Roti

Roti are really fun to make. The secret to success is leaving the dough to rest for long enough before shaping.

Credit: Poh's Kitchen

• makes

  8-9

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Roti make a wonderful accompaniment to a curry but because of the resting required should be started a day ahead. Making roti can be take a bit of practice.  As David Thompson explained when we made roti together, the secret to avoiding leathery roti is to give the dough plenty of resting time. Then you don’t need to work it too much to shape the breads. - Poh Ling Yeow, Poh's Kitchen 

Ingredients

• 500 g plain flour
• 1 egg, lightly whisked
• 1½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• ½ cup water
• ½ cup milk
• 2 cups vegetable oil
• 100 g ghee

Resting time: at least 6 hours, or overnight

Instructions

1. Put flour in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle for the egg. Using your fingertips, rub egg evenly throughout flour so mixture becomes crumbly.
2. Dissolve salt and sugar in water then combine with milk. Pour and in a bit at a time into flour mixture and loosely combine, until the dough is able to be gathered into a ball.
3. Knead for about six minutes or until the surface is relatively smooth.
4. Divide the dough into eight or nine balls, coat each generously with ghee and then cover with oil in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to sit for at least six hours or overnight.
5. Flatten the balls evenly in the palm of your hand or with a rolling pin. Grease bench with oil from  bowl. Gently stretch the edges of the circle outwards as far and as thinly as you can (so it is like tracing paper and about 60 – 70 centimetres in diameter), and before holes start to appear. (You can sprinkle in chopped spring onion greens at this point). Pick the pancake up by one end and lower into a spiral.
6. Further tease out to flatten the spiral disk into a 12 to 15-centimetre circle. Over a medium heat, grease a pan with ghee or the vegetable oil the roti rested in. Fry until golden brown on both sides and dough in the centre is cooked. Flip the roti onto a chopping board, wrap your palms around the edges and smash your hands together so the roti bunches up and flakes. Serve immediately with curry.

 

Poh's Kitchen, season 1 to season 3, premieres on Tuesday 20 November at 8.30pm. The series airs Tuesdays at 8.30pm on SBS Food (Channel 33). After they air, episodes will stream at SBS On Demand. 

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Roti make a wonderful accompaniment to a curry but because of the resting required should be started a day ahead. Making roti can be take a bit of practice.  As David Thompson explained when we made roti together, the secret to avoiding leathery roti is to give the dough plenty of resting time. Then you don’t need to work it too much to shape the breads. - Poh Ling Yeow, Poh's Kitchen