Roti Prata
Roti prata is a delicious flaky flatbread of south Indian origin found in Singapore and Malaysia (where it is called roti canai), often served alongside chicken or fish curry sauce.
Growing we would often head out to a 24 hour mamak stall (such as Al-Ameen on Bukit Timah) to have roti prata (served with sugar and curry) for breakfast (where my dad would always make sure to ask for the prata to be ‘goreng goreng’).
INGREDIENTS
- 250ml vegetable oil (1 cup)
- 125g ghee or clarified butter, melted
- 500g bread flour (aim for flour with 11% protein)
- 60ml milk, plus extra if necessary (1/4 cup)
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 tbsp caster sugar, or to taste
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
STEPS
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For dough, combine ingredients and 180ml water in a mix until a soft, sticky dough forms. Add a little more milk (10ml) if needed. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth, elastic and shiny (8-10 minutes). Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and set aside to rest for 20 minutes.
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Roll dough into a 6 cm-diameter cylinder, then cut into 12 even pieces and roll into balls.
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Pour oil into a bowl and add the balls of dough, turning each to coat well, then cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature to rest (at least 1 hour or overnight).
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Melt the ghee and have it available in a small bowl. Press down each ball to a 20cm round on a lightly oiled work surface. Carefully stretch dough in a circular motion with lightly greased hands until very thin, pulling gently from underneath as you go.
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When the dough is wafer-thin, dab lightly all over with melted ghee. Fold the left edge over two thirds of the way, and then fold over the right edge in a letter fold. Make sure to trap air under the folds. From here, you have two options1:
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Spiral: Carefully scrunch up the long edges to meet in the center – you should have a long ‘rope’ of dough. Finally, twist the dough in a spiral, tucking the end of the dough underneath. Leave the spirals to rest for 30 minutes.
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Square: Fold down the top edges until you have a flat square. With the square shape, the dough is fried as-is and there is no need to rest it.
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Heat a little ghee on a flat grill or frying pan over medium-high heat. If the prata are in spirals, make sure to flatten them out with your palm. Add prata and cook until golden and crisp (1-2 minutes each side). Repeat with remaining prata and ghee.
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Before serving, make sure to quickly ‘clap’ each prata: with the prata flat on a plate or on the table, place your hands against two opposite edges and bring them together quickly. Rotate the prata 90 degrees and repeat.2