Roti

Stack of Fresh Roti
Roti Step by Step Instructions Fresh soft and delicious roti (“rho-tee”), a bread accompaniment for various spicy Indian curries and sweet puddings (see my last post of Halwa pudding). This roti bread was taught to me by my mother in law, shown to me, not given a written recipe with measurements (I wonder if she even owns measuring cups!), oh no no… mom eyeballs the amounts and can tell by the texture if its the right amount. She does everything by heart and with heart. Mom has been making this for years and is probably finding this post rather amusing!

This particular way of making Roti results in a very soft and pliable bread, so its great for using in lieu of a spoon. Since I didn’t grow up eating roti and curries, I have had to practice this recipe over and over again and record my measurements. My husband thinks I finally got it right. So here it is…

Recipe: Roti

Summary: Guyanese Style

Ingredients

  • 2 cups All-purpose flour
  • 1 TBSP Baking Powder
  • 1 cup water
  • dash of salt
  • vegetable oil for brushing (about 1/4 cup)

Instructions

  1. Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add water slowly and roll the flour onto the water to avoid your fingers sticking too much. Mix with your hands until its all combined and slightly sticky. Keep kneading away at it for a few minutes.
  2. Add a little extra flour to the bowl and roll the dough ball to make it nice and soft. Leave in the bowl and cover with a damp towel for at least 30 to 45 minutes.
  3. Break the dough into golf ball sized pieces (I usually make about 7).
  4. Now look at my pictures to help you… take a ball and:
    – roll it out (try to use as little flour as possible, more flour = tougher bread)
    – brush top side with a little oil
    – fold “brochure like” with each side toward the middle. Next, fold the same way but with the bottom up, then top down. You should have a little folded square (oiled side tucked inside, soft on outside).
    – repeat this for all balls.
    – Let them sit another 30 minutes.
  5. Prepare your workspace by spreading out a kitchen towel onto the counter. Place a paper towel onto that. (This is where you will be “smushing” the roti.)
  6. Heat a skillet to medium high, brush with oil. Now roll out a ball dough into a round circle. Toss the roti on the skillet, wait for it to bubble (1-2 minutes), brush the top with oil then flip it. Brush the new top with oil (the already cooked side) and flip again. Wait about 10 seconds then remove from the skillet and place onto the prepared paper towel. Fold the towel in half, then hold accordion like and smush together several times (like 20 times). Roti should be soft and floppy. Place on a plate and cover to keep warm. Repeat for all.

Preparation/Rising time: 60 minute(s)

Cooking time: 15 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 7

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

25 thoughts on “Roti

  1. I’ve never eaten this before and I am completely intrigued! Your photo caught my eye, but the whole recipe sounds lovely. I am most definitely going to make this! I am printing the recipe now. Thank you!

  2. Good job on the roti, older Guyanese never used any measurements at all, it’s amazing how they always seemed to achieve the same results over and over.

  3. When I was in Thailand I had the most amazing roti ever! Egg and banana were folded in and then topped with condensed milk and sugar. I think it might have been sweetened condensed milk.

  4. Sounds yummy, I will have to ask my MIL if she has ever had roti that way. Thanks for visiting my site!

  5. I hope your roti came out, what did you end up serving it with? You can eat it with a variety of foods. I like it with Dahl (yellow split peas with garlic boiled and pureed), also with pumpkin (butternut squash sautéed and mashed with garlic and shrimp). Thanks for visiting my site!

  6. This looks amazing! I will be making this today. Thank you for the steps, very well done.

  7. Hello,

    I wanted to know what kind of flour you used for the Roti? Was it just regualr white all purpose flour? I tried the recipe using whole wheat and it was tasty, BUT not light and fluffy like your’s.

  8. Hi Alayna,
    yes it was white all-purpose flour. I will update the recipe to indicate that, thanks for letting me know and sharing your results!

  9. I misplaced my Mom’s recipe, so I searched Pinterest and found this. Time to dust off my tawa and make some roti!

  10. I am so excited to see this recipe! We have a food truck here that sells fabulous homemade roti stuffed with things like curried chicken salad, grass fed beef and kimchi, and lots of great veggies and goat cheese with sriacha. Been wanting to figure out to make this!!! Thanks!

  11. Angie, that sounds so delicious, I might have to try one of those wraps for a future post. Thanks for sharing!

  12. Hi Amina, You will have to tell that to my mother in law. She is from Guyana and has made it all her life, taught to her by her mother, I suppose it’s made differently depending on where you learned and maybe where you came from? Thanks for stopping by my site!

  13. I tried this tonight… they tasted wonderful. My only problem was that they were light and fluffy UNTIL I smushed them… I think I did something wrong. After two I stopped smashing because I wanted to be able to eat them, haha. They fell into pieces during smushing regardless of being soft and pillow and yummy beforehand. Thanks though! I had it with leftover vindaloo from the night before.

  14. Oh my that’s interesting! Mine usually need the smush to be soft, but whatever works for you and I’m so glad you liked them 🙂

  15. It looks wonderful, I have a question about step 6 do you just unfold the roti and cook it or roll the already oiled inside into a new round?

  16. Hi Reba, Sorry this response is so late, I hope you managed it ok. To answer your question… you roll them out with the rolling pin so they are nice and flat before cooking them, I need to re-read my post to make sure the directions are clear. Thanks for visiting the blog!

  17. This recipe is very close to what I remember my mom making. She is guyanese. I never learned to make it myself. Hoping to get her tawa from sister. I think clapping the roti when it come off the pan is a better term than smushing. Lol

  18. Thx for this wonderful recipe. My mom always makes this, but she doesnt add baking powder. I am from Mauritius, its called farata there, and its very famous. My mom also doesnt use specific quantities, so its not easy learning from her. I will try ur recipe, hope to get good results

Comments are closed.