Roti - โรตี

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Every year, I take a trip to Thailand to visit my family and friends. Some relatives and friends look the same year after year and some have gone through transformations...like food in Thailand.

When I was growing up there was only one style of sweet roti and the vendors were South Asian immigrants. This style has the stretched dough spiraling into a round, flower-like shape, then flattened into a round disk. This roti is fried in oil with a small piece of margarine. When the roti is golden brown, the vendor places it on paper, drizzles some sweetened condensed milk and sprinkles some sugar on top and rolls it up. This roti is soft with a few crunchy spots and is very sweet. Off you go, eating warm, sweet roti, walking the streets of Bangkok.

About 10 years ago, I noticed that I could get a super crispy roti at a mall. Street food gone high end? Then I started to see them everywhere. The vendors are no longer just immigrants but everybody and anybody who can make roti. I like the super crispy roti as much as my childhood roti. The super crispy roti has the same dough but stretched dough goes directly into hot oil. The increased surface area is exposed to hot oil, resulting in even more crunchy crispiness.

The evolution of roti didn't stop there. I can now get fillings in my roti. Just like Thai cooks took over the original rotis from the Indians, the fillings show the their assimilation of other foreign foods. The fillings now range from bananas to strawberry jam, to the Italian Nuttela. Even simple cheese was not even enough, so now you can find pizza toppings.

When you're in Thailand, stop at a roti stand and enjoy a warm roti with a long history. In the meantime, let's make it at home.

5 Servings, Prep Time: 25 Minutes, Total Time: 25 Minutes

butter
sugar
sweetened condensed milk
cooking oil
Roti Dough

Tips and Techniques

The amount of ingredients (butter, sugar, sweetened condensed milk and oil) are as needed. I prefer just sweetened condensed milk on my roti.
When frying roti, the more oil you add to the pan, the crispier the roti.
When slapping down the dough, don't worry about the holes. Continue to work around them. The roti gets really crispy around the holes because these are the thinnest spots.
Sweetened condensed milk can be really thick and hard to drizzle when it's cold. Let the sweetened condensed milk sits in a warm water bath.
In Thailand, we punch a few holes to drizzle the sweet condensed milk. But when the sweetened condensed milk gets too thick, I open the can all the way and use a fork to drizzle the sweetened condensed milk.

Method

The Roti Dough makes 10 rotis. Scroll down to see the dough recipe.

Slapping the Dough

Find a nice smooth large surface you can work the dough on. A stone pastry board or stone countertops work well. You can also use a large platter like I do. Oil your working surface well. Take a piece of rested dough and press with your fingers to flatten the dough (picture 2). Try to press evenly. Do not push through. The dough should be about 4 inches in diameter.

Using both hands now, grab the dough. One hand under the dough with the hand open to the dough. The other hand is grabbing from the top of the dough. Slap it against the platter or surface either left or right depending on your preference (picture 3). Rotate to the next thick spot and slap the dough hard again. Continue rotating and slapping. You'll start seeing the dough stretched so thin that it appears translucent at some spots. The edges will be thicker, similar to a pizza.

The roti vendors slap the dough until it's full size, but I don't have the space. So, I use my finger to stretch the dough at the end.

Work on the edges by stretching with your fingers and keep moving and stretching until you've worked on all the edges (picture 4). Stretch out the dough on the oiled surface. Keep the stretched dough spread out and stretched on the surface (picture 5). I'm frying the dough on a 11-inch griddle. So, my stretched dough can't be bigger than that.

Forming Roti

Grab the stretched dough by a corner. Spiral the dough on an oiled surface into a rosette (picture 6). Flatten the rosette into a round disk to spread out the dough (picture 7).

Frying the Dough

Heat a griddle or pan over medium heat (picture 8). Add 2 tablespoons of oil. Fry the dough in oil. Add a small amount of butter. Flip and let the other side brown. It takes about a minute or so. You may need more oil. If you like it more crispy, add more oil.

Serving

Drizzle with sweetened condensed milk as you like. You can punch a few holes in the can and let the sweetened condensed milk pour through. If it's too thick to come out, open the lid and drizzle it with a fork. Sprinkle a pinch of sugar. Serve hot. If let cool at room temperature, it should still remain crispy.

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Roti Dough

Pbang Roti แป้งโรตี

5 Servings, Prep Time: 10 Minutes, Total Time: 50 Minutes

4 tablespoons butter
1 egg
3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
cooking oil
1/2 cup water

Method

Making Dough

Dissolve sugar and salt in ½ cup of water. Add milk, egg and melted butter. Beat the egg lightly. Add 3 cups of flour. Knead in a mixer for 15 minutes. The dough should be tacky but not sticking to the container or your hand. This dough is quite wet compared to a regular bread dough.

Forming Dough

Prepare the dough resting container by oiling the inside of the container and adding some oil on the bottom of the container. Oil your hand.

Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces, each about the size of a golf ball or slightly larger.

Form the ball by pulling a side of the ball and tucking it in the middle. Rotate and repeat the pulling and tucking until the ball is smooth (picture 5). It should not take more than half a minute per ball. Finally, push the dough from the bottom through the space between your thumb and your index finger (picture 6). The ball should be smooth and tight. Tuck the rest in and pinch it together.

Oil the dough ball and place it in the oiled container.

Form the rest of the dough balls and let them sit and bathe in oil for at least 20 minutes. Do not refridgerate. You can leave them out overnight. The resting period is very important; it lets the gluten relax. The relaxed dough is easier to spread out during slapping.