How do I make flatbreads without proving dough?

Most flatbreads in the world are unleavened or very lightly leavened. They rely on steam rather than yeast, which is why they can be made from scratch faster than the oven takes to preheat.

Step by step

1. Choose a base.Yoghurt flatbread: 250g self-raising flour, 250g thick yoghurt, a good pinch of salt. Simplest flatbread: 300g plain flour, 180ml warm water, 2 tbsp oil, salt. Chapati: 250g wholemeal flour, 150ml water, salt, a little oil.
2. Bring it together and knead briefly.Two or three minutes until smooth. Less gluten development than bread but enough to roll thin without tearing.
3. Rest it for ten to thirty minutes.Covered. This is not proving — it is relaxing the gluten so it rolls out without springing back. It makes rolling far easier.
4. Divide and roll thin.Six to eight pieces, rolled to 2 to 3mm. Thin is what lets them puff — thick flatbreads just cook through without inflating.
5. Get the pan very hot and dry.A cast iron or heavy frying pan on a high heat, no oil. It should be hot enough that a flick of water skitters and evaporates instantly.
6. Cook 60 to 90 seconds a side.It bubbles, then puffs. Press gently on any flat area with a folded cloth and it usually inflates. Brown patches are wanted, not a fault.
7. Stack them under a cloth.As each one comes off, stack it and cover. The trapped steam keeps them soft — flatbreads left uncovered go stiff within minutes.
8. Brush with butter or oil if you want.Garlic butter, ghee, or oil with herbs, brushed on while hot. Optional, and it changes them from a base into something you eat on its own.
9. Eat them the same day.Unleavened flatbreads go leathery quickly. They reheat for twenty seconds in a dry pan and they freeze well interleaved with paper.

Tips

• The pan cannot be too hot. A cool pan dries them out instead of puffing them.
• Roll thin. Thickness is the difference between a flatbread and a scone.
• Stack them under a tea towel as they come off — it is what keeps them soft.

Common mistakes

• Cooking flatbreads in a moderate pan — They need a burst of heat to flash the moisture inside into steam, which is what separates the two surfaces and makes them puff. A moderate pan simply dries them into stiff discs.
• Rolling them too thick — A thick flatbread cooks through before enough steam builds to inflate it, so it comes out dense and bready. Two to three millimetres is what puffs.

If it doesn't work

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