Anyone who has reheated a day-old roti knows the result is leathery rather than soft. Storing the dough instead of the bread solves this, and the reason lies in what starch does after baking.
Staling is starch reorganizing, not drying
During cooking, starch granules absorb water and swell into a soft structure. As bread cools, those molecules gradually rearrange into a firmer crystalline form.
This happens even in a sealed bag where no moisture is lost, which is why wrapping tightly slows staling without preventing it.
Refrigeration actually speeds the process up, so bread stored cold firms faster than bread left at room temperature for the same period.
Reheating reverses some of it, briefly
Warming a stale flatbread pushes the starch back toward its soft form temporarily, which is why a reheated roti is acceptable for a few minutes and unpleasant afterward.
Each cycle also costs moisture, so the second reheat is worse than the first and the third is not worth doing.
Steam helps more than dry heat, which is why a damp towel over a stack in a warm pan outperforms a toaster oven.
Dough holds because nothing has set yet
Uncooked dough has no gelatinized starch structure to degrade. Refrigerated, it slowly relaxes, and that relaxation makes it easier to roll rather than worse.
Whole wheat dough hydrates further during the rest, which improves extensibility and reduces the tearing that frustrates new cooks.
The trade is oxidation and slight discoloration over several days, and dough for unleavened breads is best used within a couple of days rather than a week.
How this fits an American week
Mixing dough on a weekend and keeping it covered in the refrigerator means a fresh flatbread takes only the time to roll and griddle it.
Atta, the finely milled whole wheat used for these breads, is stocked by Indian groceries in the US and increasingly by larger supermarkets in the international aisle.
Standard American all-purpose flour behaves differently, producing a chewier bread, so a blend is a common compromise where atta is hard to find.
Freezing works better before cooking than after
Portioned dough balls freeze cleanly and thaw in the refrigerator overnight, arriving at the counter ready to roll.
Cooked breads can be frozen too, and freezing stalls the staling process rather than continuing it, which makes the freezer better than the refrigerator for finished bread.
Either way the bread is best off the griddle, and dough in the refrigerator is what makes that achievable on a weeknight.