President William Ruto on Tuesday promised to buy a chapati-making machine to boost Dishi na County school feeding programme.
Speaking during his tour in Mathare and Ruaraka constituencies, Ruto directed Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja to source for the machine.
"Nimekubali nitamnunulia machine ya kutengeneza chapo sasa wewe governor tafuta mahali ya kununua machine," he said.
(I have agreed to purchase the chapati-making machine so Governor (Sakaja) look for where the machine can be bought).
The machine is expected to help cook one million chapatis for school-going students under Sakaja’s feeding programme.
What exactly is a chapati making machine?
It is a tool to make quick chapatis without using a rolling pin and board.
There are two machinery for chapati including a dough mixer and a main chapati making machine.
The chapati making machine is mainly used to produce final eatable chapati from the dough prepared in the dough mixer.
According to a project paper done on the topic by Samadhan, with the help of the machine the work of rolling, and heating is completed in a very short span.
Steps of making chapati with a machine
1. First pour the flour and water in proportionate ratio into the dough mixer.
2. Start the mixer so that the dough can be prepared properly.
3. Put the dough into the chapati machine for rolling.
4. After that rolled chapati is moved towards the heater/flat Tava, which heats the chapati to make a final product.
Alternatively, according to Qualimark, you should start with dough preparation, where the machine typically has a dough mixing unit.
This is where ingredients like wheat flour, water, and sometimes oil are accurately measured and mixed to create a consistent dough.
The dough is then divided into equal-sized portions.
1. Dough ball formation
The machine shapes the dough into uniformly sized dough balls.
This ensures that each chapati will be of the same size and weight.
2. Rolling and flattening
The machine automatically rolls and flattens the dough balls into round, thin chapati discs.
The thickness and diameter of the chapatis can often be adjusted based on customer preferences.
3. Cooking
The machine can use heated plates or conveyor belts to cook the chapatis.
The cooking temperature and time are carefully controlled to ensure even cooking and the right level of browning.
Some machines have multiple cooking stages to ensure uniform cooking on both sides of the chapati.
4. Flipping and stacking
To ensure even cooking on both sides, many chapati making machines are equipped with mechanisms for flipping the chapatis during the cooking process.
Cooked chapatis are then stacked automatically, ready for collection.
