Roti canai, also known as roti cane or roti prata is a flat bread of Indian origin that is found in several countries in Southeast Asia, especially Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
What is roti canai?
Roti canai is pronounced tʃanai and not kanai. Roti is a flat bread from the Indian subcontinent, also known as chapati, popular in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Brunei, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Singapore, Maldives, and Malaysia.
In other countries, this bread is called prata (Malaysia, Singapore), palata (Myanmar), bus up shut (Trinidad and Tobago), or farata (Mauritius).
In European countries it is known as flying bread, while in China it is called Yin Du Jian Bing, which means oven baked Indian biscuits.
What is the origin of the name roti canai?
Roti canai is a recipe that comes from the south of India, but it was modified and made famous by the Mamak, the Indian Muslims of Malaysia.
Roti is the Urdu, Malay and Indonesian word for bread. The word canai can refer to the name of the city of Chennai, formerly Madras, the capital of the state of Tamil Nadu in South India, to the preparation of channa, a dish based on chickpeas baked in a spicy sauce originating from India, where this type of bread is traditionally served, or more simply to the word canai, which in Malay means “to roll out thinly” (the dough) or “to knead”.
In Indonesia, roti canai is also called roti cane, roti konde or roti mariyam, and is usually served with goat curry and tarik.
How to prepare roti canai
Roti canai is, in Southeast Asia, what the butter croissant is to French and Austrian cuisine or the mofletta to Moroccan cuisine, similar because of the layers of greased dough.
Roti canai consists of a dough made of wheat flour, egg and water, which, after several hours of rest, is worked with a large amount of fat. Some versions add sweetened condensed milk to the dough.
There are also vegan versions of roti canai, without eggs.
The type of fat used to puff out roti canai is usually ghee, clarified butter or simply neutral vegetable oil.
The dough, after being boiled and left to rest for many hours, is worked, flattened and greased, then folded several times to puff it out.
Each ball of dough is flattened, spread out until it is paper-thin and disc-shaped. This work is done by “slamming” it hard on a flat surface.
The final version of roti canai can have two forms:
The thinly rolled out dough disc is rolled up into a long sausage roll and twisted into a snail-like shape before spreading it again by hand or with a rolling pin into a disc of 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) in diameter.
The upper quarter of the dough disc is folded over itself, almost reaching the middle of the dough sheet. The lower edge is folded to make it meet the upper edge. This process must then be repeated with the other sides to create a rounded square of multilayer dough.
The last preparation cycle consists of cooking the well-greased roti canai in a hot frying pan or hot plate coated with ghee or oil.
The ideal roti canai is flat, soft on the inside and crispy and brittle on the outside.
The majority of rotis canai are round, but generally, those with a filling are purely square.
Some technical advice
Ghee and/or oil are essential to the roti canai recipe. It actually takes a lot of fat to make roti canai create layers of moist puff pastry.
If less fat is used, the dough will be hard and dry. Start by soaking the hands in oil or having a generous amount of oil on the palms.
The dough should not be kneaded for too long. As soon as all the ingredients are gathered into dough, between 5 and 7 minutes maximum, stop kneading and immediately separate the portions into dough pieces.
Over-kneading the dough damages the structure of the gluten molecules and when this happens it is almost impossible to stretch the dough properly and, moreover, it will break.
The resting phase of the dough is very important. The best is to prepare it the day before for the next day. This not only allows it to ferment and develop its flavor, but also helps to relax the gluten, which contributes to its elasticity and extensibility.
This is indeed extremely important because it is exactly the effect that is expected in order to create the thin layers of roti canai.
The minimum rest period is 2 hours.
In order to separate the layers of dough, make a clapping movement (be careful, it will be hot), clapping the bread between the hands to separate the layers.
The different variants of roti canai
Different variants of roti canai have appeared in Malaysia.
These different forms of roti canai are usually designated by prefixing the roti to the added ingredient. Here are the most common versions:
- Roti bawang, with onion.
- Roti telur, with fried egg.
- Roti telur bawang, with egg (telur) and onion (bawang).
- Roti tisu, a fine and brittle roti. It is also called roomali roti, from the word “roomal”, meaning “handkerchief” in Hindi.
- Roti planta, filled with margarine, often Planta brand, and sugar.
- Roti sardin, stuffed with sardines, with ketchup and/or sambal.
- Roti pisang, banana-based.
- Roti sayur, with spinach.
- Roti kaya, with coconut jam (kaya).
- Roti tampal, similar to roti telur, but the eggs are laid outside rather than stuffed.
- Roti tuna, with tuna.
- Cheese roti.
- Roti babi, stuffed with pork.
- Roti kacang, garnished with lentils or beans.
- Roti ayam, cooked with chicken broth.
- Roti kopi, served with chopped coffee beans.
- Murtabak, a very thick roti filled with a mixture of egg, meat, onions and spices. In Malaysia and Singapore, it is usually prepared on a flat griddle, but in Indonesia it is often fried in a wok. In Thailand it is called mataba. In Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, murtabak is made with the same dough used to make roti canai, and with the same equipment. Most murtabak in Malaysia tend to have less ground meat and more eggs than the Singapore Murtabak or Johorean Murtabak.
- Roti cobra, a roti served with chicken curry and a fried egg on top.
- Roti banjir, meaning “flooded roti”, with a lot of curry poured on top.
- Roti tsunami, topped with curry sauce, sambal and boiled eggs.
Roti Canai
Ingredients
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoon fine salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 cup ghee , melted (or vegetable oil), at room temperature
- 1 egg , beaten
- ¼ cup evaporated milk
- ⅔ cup lukewarm water or more, at 97 F (36°C)
Equipment
- Stand mixer
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour, sugar, salt, and 3 tablespoons of ghee or vegetable oil.
- Using the dough hook on low speed, mix until all the ingredients are combined.
- Add the egg, evaporated milk and water.
- Knead until a smooth and elastic dough forms, between 5 and 7 minutes maximum.
- The dough should be a little sticky, but not wet.
- Transfer the dough to the countertop and divide it into 8 dough pieces.
- Work the pieces of dough until they are smooth.
- With the remaining ghee (or oil), coat each ball with a tablespoon.
- Place the dough balls on a baking sheet and cover them with a cloth.
- Let them sit at room temperature, away from drafts, for at least 6 hours.
- Coat the countertop with ghee or vegetable oil. Coat both hands as well.
- Place a ball of dough in the center of the countertop.
- Press down with generously greased palm to flatten the dough into a disc about 15 to 20 cm (6 to 8 inches) in diameter, 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick in the center and slightly thinner at the edges.
- Stretch the dough from the center outward making sure that most of the dough is paper-thin and moving around the perimeter of the dough while pulling it out, holding it between the thumbs and the other fingers, lifting the thicker edges, pulling outward to make it thinner and occasionally "slamming" it against the countertop to make it stick.
- Slowly go around the perimeter of the dough circle, pulling outward to thin the dough until it is possible to see through it.
- Continue until obtaining a paper thin sheet that should be about 24 inches (60 cm) in diameter.
- Use the fingertips to smooth out the thicker parts like paper.
- 2 possibilities for the shape:
- - With both hands, fold the top quarter of the dough back on itself, almost reaching the middle of the sheet. Fold the bottom edge over so that it meets the top edge. Then repeat with the other sides to create a rounded square of multi-layered dough of about 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm). With each fold, capture air between the layers.
- - The disc of dough thus very finely rolled out must be rolled on itself until a long sausage forms and twisted like a snail, before rolling it out again by hand or using a rolling pin into a disc 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) in diameter.
Cooking
- Heat a hot plate or large pan over low heat.
- Drizzle the hot plate or pan with a little ghee or vegetable oil.
- Place a roti in the pan and cook slowly, 3 to 4 minutes per side, turning occasionally to ensure even browning.
- Transfer the breads to a work surface.
- Repeat the operation with the remaining roti.
- Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
If the dough is prepared the day before, before working it, let it come to room temperature in a warm place.
To go faster, it is also possible to heat it in the microwave for 10 seconds maximum.
In order to separate the layers of dough, make a movement of applause (be careful, it will be hot), hitting the bread between the hands to separate the layers.
Vera is the “expert” of the 196 flavors’ duo. With over 30 years of experience in the kitchen, she is now sharing her skills as a private chef and cooking instructor.
Oren says
Looks yummy! I’ll try thse one!
max says
Nice site with lots of information, the historic references are interesting.
I backpacked India for 10 years, and this flaky roti was one of my favorites, in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. I have to say your photo, does not look like the ones I had, I don’t see the layers.
The ones I had looked a little like a cinnamon roll or a croissant – And that is how I make them. I don’t roll the dough, it’s more like a pleat and then spiraling.. That is how I learned it, Looks nice, delicious.