Atta is the Hindi word for a kind of wheatflour commonly used in South Asian cooking. It is a whole wheat flour made from hard wheat. Hard wheats have a high protein content, so doughs made out of atta flour are strong and can be rolled out very thin. Breads made from atta include chapati, roti, naan and puri.
Atta is obtained from grinding complete wheat grains. It is creamy brown in colour and relatively coarse compared to other types of flour. Since nothing is removed from atta, all the constituents of the wheat grain are preserved.
Traditionally, atta is made by stone grinding, a process that imparts a characteristic aroma and taste to the bread. High bran content of atta makes it a fiber-rich food. The temperatures attained in a "chakki" (stone grinder), produced by friction, are of the order of 110-125 deg C. At such high temperatures, the carotenes present in the bran tend to exude the characteristic roasty smell, and contribute to the sweetness of the atta.
