What is difference between roti, paratha, chapati and tortilla?

Desi Chef answered 6 years ago

Roti, Chapati & Paratha are all Indian flatbreads. They are made on a flat top griddle or tawa. They are similar but there are subtle differences: 

ROTI is a traditional unleavened whole-wheat bread which, depending on the country and the cook, can be as thin as a "skin" or soft and pliable, closer to a pita. Rotis are eaten mainly in North India but are known as "phulkas" in the West & the South parts of India. Deep fried versions are known as "poori". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roti
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poori

CHAPATI is traditionally made from very finely milled whole wheat "chapati flour" and tend to be thin and papery. They are made using a 3 fold process into a triangular shape and then rolled out into a circle. Each layer is well oiled (ghee), resulting in thin layers. This type of flatbread is also known as "poli" and eaten commonly in the Western & Southern regions of India. Nowadays, many cooks add a tbsp or so of yogurt to the dough with the end result being soft chapatis without the excess use of oil or ghee.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapati

PARATHA is a North Indian flatbread that may be stuffed or not. It is usually on the thicker side and may have several layers (8-10) that are well oiled with ghee. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paratha

NAAN, which is made from white flour and leavened either with a starter or with yeast. It is traditionally made in a tandoor oven.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naan

BHATURAS are fried versions of naans. They are eaten with chole
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhatura

 

Source:

http://www.foodsubs.com/Flatbread.html
http://www.indianfoodsco.com/Recipes/bre...
http://store.indianfoodsco.com/InfoPage....
http://store.indianfoodsco.com/Info

 source:

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081013075612AAkR6KB 

We often get asked what the difference is between all of those breads you can eat with dals or curries. 

There are basically 5 main types of bread that you can make (or buy) and these are roti, chapati, puri, paratha and naan.
Within each main bread type there are lots of different variants. For example, plain naan, garlic naan and peshwari naan.

A roti is an unleavened bread. In other words, it does not use yeast or any other ingredient to try and get it to rise.
The word roti tends to cover all unleavened breads, including chapati and paratha although, just to confuse matters, there is a specific bread called roti. Traditionally, roti is made from whole meal flour (called atta flour). 

Chapati (also known as chapatti and chapathi) is very similar to a roti with the main differences being that chapati is thinner and is made from whole wheat flour (rather than whole meal flour that a roti is made from). Like roti, chapati is unleavened.

Puri (also known as poori) is very similar to chapati with the main difference being that puri is deep fried, rather than pan fried. Again, puri is unleavened.

Paratha is layered chapati that is lightly fried in ghee, or oil. As well as layers being chapati, the layers can just be stuffed with vegetables such as potato, cauliflower and paneer.
Seeing that paratha is a form of chapati, a paratha is also unleavened.

Naan bread is leavened bread made with white flour. The bread is usually leavened with yeast and sometimes baking powder (or a combination of both).
Naan is thicker than the unleavened breads. Roti, chapati, puri and paratha are traditionally made on a tava or in a pan whereas naan is made in a tandoor.
A lot of naan recipes use a conventional oven to bake the naan, seeing that not many people have a tandoor in their homes.

And what are these breads used for? Well, paratha can be a snack or meal by itself, particularly if it is stuffed with vegetables.
The other breads are eaten as accompaniments for dal and curry dishes where they are eaten as a side dish, used to scoop up the food or used to clean up the plate.

source:
http://www.curryfocus.co.uk/Blog/2012/04/05/roti-chapati-puri-paratha-and-naan-breads/


The Spanish flour Tortilla is made with All purpose flour, milk, oil, salt and pepper.
The Indian Chapatti is make with whole wheat flour, water, oil, salt. You can make Chapatti with milk too..  and the methods are similar.
So, you can say that Chapati is whole wheat tortilla. It’s mainly the difference in flour and what you serve it with.




Tortilla is leavened while Chapatti is not.
http://www.ahomemadechef.net/indian-chapati-or-whole-wheat-tortilla/