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    Home » Flatbreads, Quick Breads and Yeasted Breads » Zambian Chapati | Zambian Meal ~ Z for Zambia

    Zambian Chapati | Zambian Meal ~ Z for Zambia

    Published: Sep 29, 2014 · Modified: Oct 5, 2020 by Srivalli · 17 Comments

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    For the last and final alphabet, Z, I went on to do a Zambian Meal. Can't believe a month has so swiftly passed away and we are on the last day, doing this International Food journey around the world in 30 days, doing an ABC cooking for each day.  We have cooked up 26 countries, however, with each of my BM buddy, being so enthusiastic, have cooked many dishes over for each alphabet. Be sure to check them out.

    If you knew about my love for thalis, you must know this one is very much a mini one. I had wanted to do a thali at least for one country, in terms of cooking up multiple dishes, being paired well. Thali is not just about cooking up multiple dishes right, it's more about pairing them all together and cooking up a balanced meal.

    I have been so shorthanded in terms of being able to plan a more elaborate theme. However I must confess that all the dishes that I had prepared for this series were hit, my kids loved them all. So I am not unhappy I did this theme.

    However just to make myself happy by doing a simple meal for the final country, I searched for dishes that I can make for a meal. When I checked out Zambia, I was elated to see dishes that had Indian flavour to them. This Zambian Chapati from celtnet org, was supposed to be a traditional recipe, introduced by the Indian traders and settlers many years ago. This is a flatbread fried in oil and common among the Swahili speaking people.

    The Zambian Chapati is different from the ones we make, at least based on my knowledge of doing different Indian flatbreads. I promptly decided that I was going to make this flatbread as the main dish and add on sides for it.



    Zambian Chapati 
    Country - Z for Zambia
    Category - Bread
    Preparation Time - 10 mins
    Resting Time - 30 mins
    Cooking time - 3 - 4 mins per bread
    Ingredients Needed:
    All purpose flour - 2 cups
    Salt to taste
    Warm water to knead
    Onions - 2 medium, pounded
    Baking Soda - 3/4 tsp
    Cooking oil, ghee for cooking
    How to prepare Zambian Chapati
    Wash and peel the onions, dice them small. In a mortar, pound the onion until it is partly a paste then scrape into a bowl.
    In a wide bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together, then add the pounded onion.
    Mix everything together and then slowly add water and knead to a stiff dough.
    Continue kneading well till the dough is soft and well kneaded.
    Cover with a cloth and rest for half an hour.
    When ready to cook the chapatis, heat a tawa, grease with oil, and simmer.
    Divide the dough into small orange sized balls. Dust well and using a rolling pin, roll out as discs.
    When the frying pan is hot, place these discs on the griddle and cook. After a couple of minutes, when you find the bubbles coming up, flip to the other side and cook again.
    Apply oil/ghee on both sides and cook till golden brown on both sides.
    Serve with side dish hot.

    The dishes that were part of this meal were the
    Zambian Chapati
    Tomato and Peanut Relish
    Beans with Tomatoes, Onions, and Green Bell Pepper
    Zambian Peri Peri
    With this we come to an end to the wonderful journey we took Around the world in 30 days, cooking ABC in countries. The month simply flew and though I was most unprepared when I started this edition, I managed to cook on time and schedule ahead. This would not have been possible if not for my daughter for helping out with clicking step by step pictures.
    In fact, some suggested I ditch my practice of showcasing each step and quickly get my list done. I simply couldn't do that and so I roped in Konda. She was so enthusiastic and was so sad when we completed the list. She has so many other countries that she wants me to try. So hopefully I would be doing that soon.
    Thank you for being part of this journey and I thank my BM buddies for all the encouragement they also give

    An InLinkz Link-up

    Recipe

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    Zambian Chapati | Zambian Meal ~ Z for Zambia

    Cuisine Zambian
    Author Srivalli

    Ingredients

    • 2 cups All Purpose Flour
    • Salt to taste
    • Warm Water to knead
    • 2 medium Onions pounded
    • 3/4 tsp Baking Soda
    • Cooking Oil, Ghee for cooking

    Instructions

    How to prepare Zambian Chapati

    • Wash and peel the onions, dice them small. In a mortar, pound the onion until it is partly a paste then scrape into a bowl.
    • In a wide bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together, then add the pounded onion.
    • Mix everything together and then slowly add water and knead to a stiff dough.
    • Continue kneading well till the dough is soft and well kneaded.
    • Cover with a cloth and rest for half an hour.
    • When ready to cook the chapatis, heat a tawa, grease with cooking oil, and simmer.
    • Divide the dough into small orange sized balls. Dust well and using a rolling pin, roll out as discs.
    • When the frying pan is hot, place these discs on the griddle and cook. After a couple of minutes, when you find the bubbles coming up, flip to the other side and cook again.
    • Apply cooking oil / ghee on both sides and cook till golden brown on both sides.
    • Serve with side dish hot.
    Tried this recipe?Mention @spicingyourlife_ or tag #spicingyourlife_!
    « Malawah | Yemeni Skillet Bread ~ Y for Yemen
    "Around the world in 30 days" Int'l ABC Cooking ~ A Recap »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Varadas Kitchen says

      September 29, 2014 at 7:53 pm

      It has been a pleasure reading your posts during this past month. Nice to know Konda was such a good helper. You have put together an awesome meal to end this month long journey.

      Reply
    2. Usha says

      September 29, 2014 at 8:54 pm

      I you are a superwoman. Only you could pull it off on time, and the first one to post everyday though you were not fully prepared. It was fun doing the ABC international cooking though I was not sure I wanted to do it.

      It is also wonderful that you would squeeze in a full meal for at least one country.

      Reply
    3. vaishali sabnani says

      September 30, 2014 at 5:40 am

      What a finale!!..fantastic, the complete meal looks so doable, the chapati is like onion paratha..very interesting.
      the marathon has been a very interesting one and I am already looking forward to the next mega...you displayed some delicious dishes and I am so glad that Konda was such a help..you have a treasure:)
      Thank you for giving us this opportunity to learn something new.

      Reply
    4. Priya Suresh says

      September 30, 2014 at 7:20 am

      Omg, looks like u finish this month's mega marathon with a bang..Beautiful meal, i can have happily this excellent meal anytime. Chappathi looks fabulous with those onion chunks.

      Reply
    5. Harini-Jaya R says

      September 30, 2014 at 2:22 pm

      Wow! That was a finale with the whole meal!!

      Reply
    6. Pavani N says

      September 30, 2014 at 6:17 pm

      What a lovely and wholesome Zambian meal. Everything looks super delicious.

      Reply
    7. The Pumpkin Farm says

      October 04, 2014 at 4:25 pm

      loved your platter to round up this meal Valli...i am amazed with your enery and spirit...not only you cook, but you make us all think and cook and deliver....i am so grateful for you driving this entire BM thing single handedly...hats off

      Reply
    8. Vidhya Iyer says

      October 07, 2014 at 4:17 am

      Platter looks really delicious Valli.

      Reply
    9. Suma Gandlur says

      October 07, 2014 at 2:01 pm

      Valli recently my daughter inquired whether you were leader when I mentioned about the marathon event and truly you are one. 🙂
      Loved reading each and every post of yours and a great way to end this marathon with this homely meal.

      Reply
    10. Srivalli says

      October 07, 2014 at 4:25 pm

      Thank you everybody! This wouldn't have been possible without all of you..

      Suma I am so humbled by your words, thank you. What can I say, I have a wonderful group of friends, that my work mostly gets very easy all the time..:)..I always felt we should thank our family for supporting us in this way.

      Reply
    11. Gayathri Kumar says

      October 08, 2014 at 6:45 am

      I enjoyed going through all your posts Valli. And I am glad I did this BM with you all. This meal from Zambia looks so inviting..

      Reply
    12. Padmajha PJ says

      October 09, 2014 at 10:04 am

      Srivalli,thanks for pulling us all into this group and selecting this wonderful theme. Learnt a lot thro this journey.And it is so nice of Konda to help you with all the clicks.She has done a great job.Hugs to her.

      And this is one of the flatbread recipes that I am sure to try...

      It was great doing this marathon Srivalli 🙂

      Reply
    13. Sreevalli E says

      October 15, 2014 at 5:30 am

      Wow.. The spread of zambian meal looks very delicious.

      Reply
    14. Archana Potdar says

      October 19, 2014 at 12:22 pm

      Valli you are great. Such a patient and excellent team leader. I am glad to be a part of this group. Had it not been for this group I would have never tried my hand in so many amazing dihes.

      Reply
    15. Manjula Bharath says

      October 29, 2014 at 2:47 am

      What an exotic meal to end the marathon with looks fantastic and mouthwatering 🙂 Lovely finale dish , you are really great to manage so many things in one go .. applause for your enthu 🙂

      Reply
    16. Chef Mireille says

      November 04, 2014 at 12:45 am

      I had wanted to do the African chapathi to go with my Z dish also but never got the time. Yours came out perfect

      Reply
    17. Sapana Behl says

      November 21, 2014 at 9:39 am

      Such a nice recipe to end the series.Loved your all dishes...

      Reply

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