Roti Prata

Ingredients

Dough

• 500 gplain flour
• 1 tspsalt
• 1 tbspsugar
• 3 tbspcondensed milk, or 1 egg
• 280 mlwarm water
• 3 tbspghee or oil

For resting and stretching

• oil, plenty, for coating the balls
• ghee, for cooking

To serve

• fish curry
• mutton curry
• dhal
• or sugar, for a plain sweet prata

Equipment

• a flat griddle
• a large oiled surface

Directions

1. Mix the flour, salt, sugar, condensed milk and warm water into a dough. The condensed milk is a real ingredient rather than an oddity: it enriches the dough and helps it brown.
2. Knead it hard for 12 to 15 minutes until it is very smooth and elastic. Knead it far longer than for an ordinary bread. The dough must stretch to near transparency later, and an under-worked dough tears immediately.
3. Divide it into 8 balls and roll each one smooth. The oil relaxes the surface and lets it be stretched paper thin without tearing. Rest them for at least 4 hours, and overnight in the fridge is better. A dough worked after an hour simply springs back and will not stretch.
4. Flatten it and begin pushing it outward with oiled palms. It takes practice and it is entirely fine to stretch it by hand instead, working from the centre outward.
5. Keep going until the sheet is huge and almost transparent, thin enough to see the surface through. Fold it: bring the edges into the centre in a series of folds, or gather it and coil it into a spiral. Rest the folded pieces for 15 minutes. Now flatten each one gently with your palm and then a rolling pin, to about 5 mm.
6. Press gently. Heat the griddle over a medium heat and add ghee. Cook the prata 2 to 3 minutes a side until golden with dark blistered spots. Add more ghee at the edges as it cooks, which is what the stall cooks do continuously.
7. Take the cooked prata off the griddle and clap it hard between your palms, or crush it inward from both sides. Clap it while it is still hot from the griddle. Serve immediately with fish or mutton curry, or with dhal.

Technique

• Frozen ready-made prata is sold everywhere in Singapore and is genuinely good.
• Prata kosong with sugar is the plain sweet version.
• The stalls are open around the clock and prata is late-night food as much as breakfast.

Substitutions

• Frozen roti prata or roti canai, cooked from frozen.
• Butter or oil in place of ghee, which is less rich.

Variations

• Roti telur, with an egg cracked in during folding.
• Roti tissue, stretched paper thin into a tall cone with sugar.
• With banana, cheese or sardines.

History

Singapore’s name for the flipped Indian flatbread, served with fish or mutton curry at 24-hour stalls and eaten at any time of day.

Frequently asked questions

What is Roti Prata?

Roti Prata is a breakfast from Singapore: crispy-flaky griddled flatbread served with fish curry. Singapore’s name for the flipped Indian flatbread, served with fish or mutton curry at 24-hour stalls and eaten at any time of day.

How long does Roti Prata take to make?

Roti Prata takes 40 min plus 4 hr resting of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes 8 pratas. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Roti Prata?

Yes, within limits. Frozen roti prata or roti canai, cooked from frozen. Butter or oil in place of ghee, which is less rich.

What is the most important thing to get right in Roti Prata?

Mix the flour, salt, sugar, condensed milk and warm water into a dough. The condensed milk is a real ingredient rather than an oddity: it enriches the dough and helps it brown.