Roti Canai

History

Roti canai (pronunciation tʃanai) or roti cane (pronunciation tʃane) is a type of Indian-influenced flatbread found in Malaysia,Indonesia and Singapore. It is often sold in Mamak stalls in Malaysia; also in Malay, Minangkabau and Aceh restaurants in Indonesia. It is known as roti prata in Southern Malaysia and Singapore, and is similar to the Indian Kerala porotta. It is also found throughout Thailand, where it is called "Ro Tee" and is typically sold by Muslims, most often with street carts, and is usually Halal.

In English and in Chinese, roti canai is sometimes referred to as "flying bread" (飞饼 fēibǐng), a term that evokes the process of tossing and spinning by which it is made. In Chinese, Roti canai is originally called 印度煎饼 "yìn dù jiān bǐng", which means Indian pancake.

Traditionally roti canai is served with dhal (lentil curry) or any type of curry, such as mutton or chicken curry. However, the versatility of roti canai as the staple lends itself to many variations, either savoury or sweet, with a variety of toppings and fillings, which includes eggs, banana, sardines and onion. In Thailand, it is usually served sweet - typical fillings include condensed milk, peanut butter, jam and nutella, without the curry.

How To Cook ?

Read this before you start
1. Contrary to popular beliefs, Roti Canai does not need or contain a lot of oil.
2. The main objective is to create a super thin dough without tearing that can passed the window pane test. The thinner the dough, the crisper would be the roti when fried.
3. Oil is used liberally only in the final process more as a lubricating agent  in the stretching and to prevent the thin dough from sticking together. Hence the misconception that it contains a lot of oil.

1. Basic Dough Recipe (Crisp texture)
600g Plain Flour 
300ml Water 
1 teaspoon Salt 
1 tablespoon Sugar 
15ml Oil 
1 egg
 

2. Enriched  Dough Recipe (Richer taste, more tender)
600g Plain Flour 
270ml Water 
80g (1/4 cup) Condensed Milk *
15ml (1 tablespoon) Oil or Melted Butter/Ghee 
1 teaspoon. Salt 
1 egg

*Condensed Milk (optional)
Replace it with 40mls of water and 1 tablespoon of Sugar, if you omit the 1/4 cup of condensed milk
 

Making the Dough 
1. Mix the wet ingredients together and give them a good whisk.
2. Add in flour and mix well, leave it alone for 20 minutes. *Giving it 20 minutes rest will break down the gluten  and when you start to knead, you will get a smooth dough easily. Then knead by hand for about 20 minutes with a 10 minutes rest time in between. ( I used a bred machine for this)
3 .Dust the dough with flour then divide them like a ball , about 100g each. Ensure the bottom is smooth.
4. Coat them with oil  or soak them  in oil (see below) to prevent drying and again rest them for at least 4 hours and up to 8 hours or overnight.
The resting breaks down the gluten in the flour and makes the dough more pliable and easy to flip. Cover the dough balls with cling wrap to keep the surface from drying out.
 (I put the whole container/bowl inside a plastic bag and tied up with a rubber band.)

Soak in oil -I prefer to soak them in some soil to prevent drying. I find the dough is easier to handle after 4 hrs; I need not use any more oil. The same oil may be used to smear the table top and for frying the Roti. Any excess can still be return for general cooking and not wasted.