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5 min
05/01/2026
This article explains the science behind dough hardening after a day, how oxidation affects bread texture, and what you need to do to keep your Aashirvaad Atta dough soft, pliable, and usable for a full three days after making it.
Dough undergoes drastic changes quickly, mainly because enzymes act rapidly, loosening gluten and allowing moisture to escape and oxygen to enter. With a few tricks, such as oil layering, cold storage, slow hydration, and storing in an airtight container, wheat dough can remain flexible for up to 72 hours. The article lists ways to store dough so that it does not become sticky, grey, or brittle due to oxidation.
When you add water to wheat flour, everything happens very quickly: enzymes activate, gluten forms, and oxygen is absorbed into the dough. This process is excellent at the beginning, but it begins to change the dough over time. After a few hours, the gluten will start to loosen and become slack and floppy rather than holding its elasticity. Oxygen will dry out the top layer of the dough and leave you with cracks and a dull appearance, as well as the breakdown of starches within the dough, which can affect subsequent puffing of rotis and parathas made with the dough. While Aashirvaad Atta is made from higher-quality wheat than most flours, it is still susceptible to the gradual loss of fibre due to oxidation; therefore, proper storage is essential.
Many people oil their doughs at home simply because their mothers did so. The reason behind this is that oils create a barrier on your dough to protect it from the air (like a raincoat). It notifies you of how much air is contacting the dough's surface. By not allowing as much air to come into contact with the surface of the dough, the oil on top restricts the amount of moisture that can evaporate from the dough and prevents it from turning that old grey colour. Because Aashirvaad Atta absorbs moisture quickly and easily, when you oil your dough after you've made it, the oil helps keep moisture inside the dough while protecting the outside with an oil layer.
Using plastic wrap might work fine, but using an air-tight container is far better. The more you seal your dough's environment (and therefore the less exposure to air), the slower it will oxidise (turn brown). Plus, it also helps prevent the dough from picking up random smells from your fridge (methly roti that tastes like biryani from last night) or other products in there. Using a shallow container gives plenty of room for the dough to expand over time, and since it's not compressed against the top, the dough is much easier to roll out.
If you're going to store your Aashirvaad Atta (12-24 hours) for 3 days, make sure to knead your dough slightly softer than normal so it has slightly more hydration. Even when the product loses moisture over a two or three-day period, that slight additional hydration keeps the final product pliable.
This is particularly true when you are making rotis using Aashirvaad Atta. The quality of the wheat also allows Aashirvaad Atta to absorb more water than average, keeping rotis softer for longer. When you knead the dough slightly smoother on the first day, by the third day, it is entirely workable.
The following is a basic overview of how the dough dries out:
If the dough is a bit too sticky on day 3, you can add a teaspoon of Aashirvaad Atta into the dough to help regain structure without drying it out.
Don't view storing dough as a compromise; instead, think of storage as meal prep using common sense. A little oil, some additional hydration, and a well-sealed refrigerator can keep your dough soft and reliable for a full 72 hours. The freshness of your dough is not measured by "when you kneaded it," but rather by how you handled it after that point.
