Horribly Misshapen but Still Delicious Roti Chanai

Ever had someone tell you that Jesus loves all the little children, even the ugly ones?

All childhood scarring aside, that’s how I feel about this roti. I kneaded and put all my love into it, and then Montreal’s environment and my horribly cold hands didn’t get along with the gluten in the dough. So it didn’t stretch properly…no matter (you’re actually supposed to throw it against the counter-ytop to stretch it…there’s a technique – and video instructions), I just took it and stretched it by hand, and so instead of having beautiful cracked layers after folding it over itself twice, I had a single, thick layer of doughy goodness. Wrap it around some eggplant, some fennel, some sambhar, some dahl, some squash – the options are endless – and you almost forget about how poorly you (I) made it. Until the squash starts oozing out of the holes in the dough. Ah well, that’s the fun of it.

The recipe is from my favourite cooking podcast/show, Poh’s Kitchen. I’m a little in love with Emmanuel, the adorable Frenchman, but this Kuala Lumpur Chef is also pretty good. He teaches Poh how to throw roti which, in my opinion, makes him a hero. I am not as good a good pupil as Poh, but the chef did not make my dough for me either…

Ingredients:

makes makes 8-10 roti

500g plain flour (best to weigh, because this isn’t exactly 2 cups. I used whole wheat because I realized as I started that that was all I had. Probably affected my throwing ability for the worse…)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 cup water

2 tbsp condensed milk (I use very evaporated almond milk. It theory it should be the same consistency, but really it isn’t. Maybe that’s why it didn’t work out perfectly for me…but that’s just an excuse)

2 tbsp margarine (or oil), at room temperature

1/2 egg, lightly whisked

Extra margarine

Extra vegetable oil

1. Combine flour, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Make a well at the centre of the dry ingredients and into it, pour the water, condensed milk, margarine and egg.

2. Work in a circular motion with your hand, gradually gathering more and more of the flour into the wet ingredients until you more or less have a single mass.

3. Tip all the ingredients onto the bench and knead until smooth and elastic (ambiguous elasticity terms don’t help me very much, Poh…). Roll into a cylinder and divide the dough into ten pieces. Knead each piece a few times to achieve a smooth texture, then shape into a ball. Gently cover each ball with margarine and rest in a bowl alongside but not on top of another. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest in room temperature, overnight.

4. After the overnight resting you will find the dough soft and stretchy (um…it was pretty stretchy). Now the fun part begins. Start by oiling a substantial area of the bench liberally. Place one of the balls of dough onto the table and press down with the palm of your hand while moving it in a circular motion. This is just to flatten and smooth out the surface of the dough as much as possible before you stretch it. It takes a bit of practice to throw the roti the professional way and while it’s definitely quicker, an equally effective method is to work around the edges of the circle of dough, gently stretching the edges outwards as far and as thinly as you can (so it’s like tracing paper and about 60 to 70 centimetres in diameter), and before holes start to appear (best to follow the video instructions but expect to fail…at least if you’re me)

5. Fold a third of the way in on either side of the circle, so you have three layers of roti on top of each other, then fold this elongated shape into thirds again, so you end up with a squarish shaped roti. Heat up your frypan on high heat with a dash of vegetable oil and pan-fry the roti until golden blisters appear on both sides. Let it cook 3-4 minutes. If it takes longer your pan isn’t hot enough. Mine always seemed to take longer, and they were so thick I felt that I had to turn them over, but I liked them crisper this way. I tried the smashing thing below once and it kind of squished in a little and then came back out as if nothing had happened. Kind of like yelling at someone and getting no reaction. It’s really unsatisfying. Not that I yell at a ton of people or anything.

When cooked, immediately slide the roti onto a chopping board, wrap your palms around the edges and smash your hands together so the roti bunches up and flakes. Rotate the roti and do this several times while it is still hot. Yeah, that didn’t work for me…it was still delicious. Serve immediately.

Tip: Before each fold, gently smear a small dollop (about a quarter of a teaspoon) of margarine onto the roti. This will prevent the layers from sticking and help the roti cook more evenly. (For this to matter, you’re going to need to throw it properly. I figured that since it didn’t stretch properly and tons of holes appeared it wouldn’t matter if I folded the gnarled ends over without a little more margarine. I suppose that’s giving up, but no one at my kitchen table minded. Go figure. Maybe I’ll invite more than just myself to dinner next time…).

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