The Fresh Loaf

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Anybody make roti canai?

alina's picture
alina

Anybody make roti canai?

Has anyone here had success making roti canai?  It is the Malaysian version of Indian parathas, that I ate when I was in Malaysia earlier this year.  Flaky, crisp on the outside, layers of soft chew on the inside, sometimes filled with egg, meat, or banana.

The shaping of the dough was interesting, too.  It was flung around in a circular motion and slapped onto the counter until it was paper thin and nearly see-through, then folded into an envelope and thrown on the griddle.

I want to ultimately make a whole wheat or partially whole wheat version of this, if possible.  So far, no good!

You can read more details on my blog.

Anybody have more success at this than I did?

Aloha,

Alina

Find award-winning vegetarian and vegan recipes at my blog:  http://almostveganinparadise.wordpress.com

tomsbread's picture
tomsbread

This is called roti prata in Singapore. It is an adaptation of the Indian Paratha but called roti canai (pronounced chanai) in Malaysia and I guess it is named after the city of Chennai(Madras) in India.

I have seen the vendors prepare the dough in huge plastic basins. The dough balls are roughly shaped and greased with margarine. The entire bin of dough is left to ferment overnight and the next morning, the dough is stretched and folded before frying. It is the ultimate window pane test. See youtube video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njsPe6q4ZWI