Roti Canai

This is my #1 must eat food before you die. Really! Because it taste so yummy that it's hard to believe that the ingredients are very ordinary. This is a type of flatbread that originally came from Chennai, India but made popular by the Indian community in Malaysia. It contains heaps of ghee(clarified butter), egg & flour. In Malaysia, it is common to see people eating roti canai with their hands. It is usually served with dhal(lentil curry), chicken, fish, beef or lamb curry. Roti canai can be consumed at any meal of the day i.e. breakfast, brunch, lunch, tea, dinner, supper and/or snack. Over the years, many variations of the roti was created to please its ever-growing crowd of hungry diners. The extra ingredients include eggs, onions, margarine, sugar, sardine, cheese, sweetened condensed milk etc. The following is the roti canai's recipe:

Ingredients:

600 g Plain wheat flour

1 teaspoon Salt

1 cup Warm water or milk

1/2 cup Ghee

1 Egg

1 teaspoon Sugar

Method :

• Sift the flour and salt together.

• Knead flour, egg, sugar and ghee with water/milk (a little at a time) good enough to make a moderately soft dough or easy to handle.

• Leave for 2-3 hours or overnight.

• Divide dough into 8 equal parts.

• Shape it into balls.

• Flatten each ball with a rolling pin and fold in 1/2 teaspoon ghee.

• Roll up dough and twist it into a coil. Pressing one open end onto the top.

• Roll it again as thin as possible into a round shape.

• Beginning at one of the open ends, roll up dough tightly and coil it again as before.

• Roll out dough slowly onto lightly floured surface (to ensure air is not forced out).

• Heat a pan.

• Bake individually over a moderate heat.

• Turn it over and spread a little ghee on it until both sides are golden brown.

Although roti canai can be found in every corner of Malaysia, Mamak is the only place in Sydney where you can get the authentic taste of this marvelous creation. Mamak is located along Goulburn St, Chinatown, Sydney. A piece of roti canai costs $5 (in Malaysia, it costs about RM1 ~$0.33). Anyway, forget the price. Just eat!

The food team

TBY