The Chapathi Dough model

There are certain things that you do in life that makes you rethink and re-evaluate a lot of things in life...

So, the other day when I was making the dough for Chapati, this thought hit me !!

This is what I like to call "The Chapati Dough Model" 

"The word chapat (Hindi:चपत, chapat) means "Flat", which describes the traditional method of forming rounds of thin dough by slapping the dough between the wetted palms of the hands. With each slap, the round of dough is rotated. 

Chapatis are one of the most common forms of wheat bread which is staple food in South Asia."

With that clear background, let me ask you a question. What is so special about the Chapati? Well, technically nothing. It just happens to be one of the few things I can prepare that can be passed as barely edible. It has the simplest of ingredients - wheat flour, water and salt. Other spices and vegetable oil can be added if you want to go all fancy gourmet. So what do you need to make a chapati? Duh... Dough. How do you make the dough? Well, I am glad you asked ! 

The basic goal is to convert the flour into a semi-solid mass that can be rolled. So you add water to the flour and try to mix it. It is not really that easy on the first trial. When you add the water to the powdery mass, there are few spots where the flour is really sticky and other parts where it is completely dry. It feels like you are just making a sticky mess out of it without achieving anything !  What follows is what we South Indians call a classic Idly-Chutney situation ! "There is a lot of dry flour still left, let me add water. Oh damn, it is too sticky now, let me add a little more dry flour" ... aaand you get the picture. But after doing this for what I am assuming over a good hour and a half, there seemed to be some results ! I could feel the semi solid mass and not a combination of dry powder and wet gooey stuff. And more and more I mixed it and kneaded it, the more consistent it became. What took me over 90 minutes, the first time around, takes me less than 20 minutes. ( Nothing to brag about really ! Have only done it around five times by now) 

So... 

At this point, my thoughts drank redbull, ran around and mixed with other thoughts and made me realize, Studying was much like making a Chapati ! And it all made total sense to me. 

The final aim of studying for a course is to clear the exam and get a good grade. The final aim in making a chapati is... well making a chapati that goes well with your taste buds and doesn't antagonize the digestive system. 

You can't really say you have made the dough if you have poured water over the flour and let it be while you take a couple of pics to update your snapstory ! No, that doesn't work. You either know the subject or you are still a gooey mess. A kinda, sorta dough can't be rolled well and sure as hell can't be cooked well ! Blame the flour, water, the system and the government all that you want, you still end up with a bad grade and a chapati that no one wants to eat .

It may seem like you are just flapping your hands through a complete mess in the beginning, achieving nothing and just this close to reaching out for the cornflakes and milk... but wait, there is something happening. Things are working and you don't know it yet. You will get the feel of things falling into place. This is when you continue to punch and knead the dough. You can't just expect sunshine and unicorns after opening your textbook and going straight to the exercise, realizing you can't solve it and end up thinking of a simple chapati to be an exotic dish which you are intellectually not capable of and getting scared whenever you see a chapati again in your life ! No matter how good the chef is, he can't go to the examination hall, and produce an A+ grade chapati without making the dough beforehand. A rolled dough is much like a student sitting in an exam ! The dough, already made and rolled is just waiting to be fried. Most of what will affect the taste is already been done. Only thing to do is to fry it for the right time under the correct heat and pray that you haven't messed it up this time.

Speaking from experience, I can tell you that, you can't make ton load of dough at one single instance of time and expect the fridge to keep it edible for the rest of the semester !

With all that being said, I can't eat just the chapati. I need some curry too. Well, that curry is called "Having a life". Many hours can be put into making the finest chapati, but in the end, you always need something to eat it with !