Chapati is an unleavened flatbread originating on the Indian subcontinent, made from atta, a whole-wheat flour, mixed with water into a dough and cooked on an iron griddle called a tava until it puffs up over direct heat, though an East African version is instead fried. It is a form of roti, common across South Asia even where rice is the typical staple, and in most East African countries, having been introduced there through trade and immigration, including by Indian indentured railway workers. Evidence of chapati-like foods dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization, and it is recorded in Sanskrit and Mughal-era texts; today it is typically eaten as the central part of a meal, used to scoop up dishes such as dal or stew, or used for wraps such as the Ugandan street foods rolex and kikomando.
Facts
Origin Period, From (Year)Sourced to the subject's own accountMarks the earliest specifically-dated documentary reference to chapati under that name, in the 16th-century Ain-i-Akbari, compiled circa the 1590s, rounded here to 1590. The source also places an undated Sanskrit-era reference and an artifact-based Bronze Age Indus Valley precedent earlier still, but gives no calendar year for either, so neither is recorded as the start date. Origin RegionSourced to the subject's own account Sources
1. Chapati (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead section, sentence 1
Chapati is an unleavened flatbread originating from the Indian subcontinent.
History section, paragraph 2
The word chapati was used in Sanskrit texts and later in the Mughal Empire; it is noted in the 16th-century document Ain-i-Akbari by Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, the vizier of Mughal emperor Akbar.
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