Why does chapati/roti dough kept in the fridge go black inspite of being kept in airtight container?
It’s not something that is confined to only chapati or roti dough, you also notice it developing over days in things as simple as store bought puff pastry. Here’s where it gets a little scientific: Believe it or not, all types of flour contain fat to some degree. There are also enzymes in all grain flours. These enzymes split the fat into free fatty acids and glycerol and it is the free fatty acids that cause the black dots. It’s perfectly natural for them to develop and doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with your dough but when you get lots of black dots you will notice it affects the flavour. More often than not, in small quantities, they will not be noticeable after cooking. Adding an alkali is the most effective way of stunting the dots development but will obviously affect the taste. My advice would be to make smaller batches unless you have access to specialised retardants like we use in production, although I say anything that is 100% natural is best so stick with what you ar
