Recipe facts
- Yield
- 8 breads
- Prep
- 30 minutes (plus 4 hours resting)
- Cook
- 20 minutes
- Total
- 290 minutes
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Spice
- None in the bread itself
Allergens Contains wheat and dairy (ghee, condensed milk). Vegetarian. Halal as written.
Development draft. This is an untested development recipe from the cookbook project. It has not been kitchen-tested, and the quantities and timings are the author’s working draft rather than a verified result.
Ingredients
The dough
- 4 cups (500 g) plain flour, plus a little for handling
- 1 1/4 cups (300 ml) warm water
- 3 tbsp (45 ml) sweetened condensed milk
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 2 tsp (12 g) salt
- 3 tbsp (42 g) ghee or unsalted butter, softened, plus more for cooking
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) neutral oil, for coating and resting the dough
To serve
- Dhal or a thin chicken or fish curry gravy, for dipping
- Sugar, for those who eat it sweet (optional)
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl
- Flat cast-iron griddle or heavy flat frying pan, at least 10 in (25 cm)
- Large clean smooth work surface — the bigger the better
- Small bowl of oil for coating
Method
- Whisk the warm water, condensed milk, beaten egg and salt together in a jug until the salt dissolves.
- Put the flour in the large bowl and pour in the liquid. Mix to a rough, sticky, shaggy dough, then knead in the bowl 10 minutes, until it is smooth and elastic and pulls away from your hand. It should stay noticeably soft.
- Work the softened ghee into the dough, then divide it into 8 equal pieces and roll each into a tight ball.
- Put the balls in a shallow dish, pour over the neutral oil so they are fully coated and submerged at the base, cover, and rest at room temperature at least 4 hours, or refrigerate overnight and return to room temperature before use.
- Oil the work surface lightly. Take one ball, press it flat, then stretch it outward from the centre with oiled hands, working around the circle, until it is a thin sheet you can almost see through. Small tears are acceptable.
- Fold the two opposite edges of the sheet into the middle to make a long strip, then roll the strip up from one end into a spiral like a snail shell. Tuck the end underneath and rest the coil 10 minutes.
- Heat the griddle over medium heat and brush with a little ghee. Press one coil flat with your palm into a round about 7 in (18 cm) across — press, do not roll, or you crush the layers.
- Cook 2-3 minutes a side, brushing with a little more ghee, until deep golden brown with dark blistered spots and the edges look dry and flaky.
- Lift the hot bread onto a board and clap it between both hands, or crush it lightly, to loosen the layers so they separate visibly. Do this while it is still very hot.
- Repeat with the remaining coils. Serve immediately with dhal or curry gravy.
The Complete Edition
Roti Canai sits in the Malaysia chapter
The book carries this recipe in full alongside the rest of the Malaysia chapter, the pastes and dips it is built on, and the twenty-seven pantry studies that open the collection.
In review with Amazon KDP
Both editions have been submitted to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing and are currently in review. Submitted prices are $9.99 for the kindle edition and $49.99 for the paperback. Neither is on sale yet, and prices are as submitted rather than final.