Using Chakki Atta instead of whole wheat flour?
I bought a bag of chakki atta from an Indian grocery store. The back of the bag says that it's 100% whole wheat flour. It was cheaper than traditional American style whole wheat flour, so I decided to buy a bag to see how well it would work.
At home, the main thing that I noticed was that chakki atta looks different. The whole wheat flour that I'm used to is tan with dark flecks. Chakki atta is a more uniform yellowish tan without any flecks, or maybe the flecks are just really small. I've used it a few times in bread baking, and it seems to work well.
My question is, does anyone have a better idea of how packaged chakki atta is different from whole wheat flour, and what kinds of things it is good for?
Best Answer
In theory chakki is a flour mill, and chakki atta is flour fresh from that mill. Realistically of course nothing you find on your grocery store shelves is fresh from a mill.
Atta flour is made from hard wheat, which has a high gluten content. This means that your flour is probably better for bread than typical all-purpose whole wheat flour from the baking aisle. If it is hard white wheat this might explain the color, as ground white wheat doesn't look that much darker than all-purpose flour.
Like typical grocery store whole wheat flour, atta flour is coarsely ground. This may give your bread a more grainy texture (not a bad thing), and makes atta unideal for cakes, biscuits, and quick breads unless you like them with a coarse texture in the crumb. If you would like to use whole wheat for baking other than bread, whole wheat pastry flour is the usual suggestion (or grind wheat yourself to a very find grind).
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Quick Answer about "Using Chakki Atta instead of whole wheat flour?"
But probably the biggest difference between atta and whole wheat flour is the way it's milled: it's technically a whole wheat flour, but it's finer and behaves a little differently in breads. Atta is stone ground to a very fine flour in a "plate/disk mill" called a chakki, according to Bakerpedia.Is wheat flour same as atta?
Atta or wheat flour is a basic, milled flour made from whole wheat grains. It's a combination of the germ, endosperm and bran of wheat grains. Maida or refined flour is made from just the endosperm of whole wheat grains. As the name suggests, maida or all-purpose flour is highly refined.Can Chakki Atta be used for baking?
But it has less damage to the starch and protein in the flour as it cuts the flour into small particles. But Chakki alters the starch (the force is intense) which is not good for western bread making but great for indian bread chapati/roti.Is Chakki Atta wheat flour?
Atta/Ata (Urdu: \u0622\u0679\u0627; Hindi: \u0906\u091f\u093e, Bengali: \u0986\u099f\u09be, romanized: \u0100\u1e6d\u0101) or chakki atta is a wholemeal wheat flour, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used to make flatbreads such as chapati, roti, naan, paratha and puri. It is the most widespread flour in the Indian subcontinent.Is Chakki Atta the same as whole wheat flour?
Atta or Chakki Atta is a finely ground whole wheat flour, produced in India. It's used to make flatbreads such as chapati, roti, naan, paratha and puri. It is also widespread in Pakistan.What's the Difference Between Whole Wheat Flour \u0026 White Flour?
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Answer 2
Typically in India you get different color wheats. The color vary from white to yellowish to darker brown. And that is why Chakki atta's color differ. If you stick to one brand you will get same color flour as they use same kind of wheat.
For chapattis (Indian bread) the Flour used is finely ground. Which is good for baking. And is whole wheat flour.
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