Srilankan Roti

The roti’s here are served with ‘Kaara kuzhambu’ and ‘vallaarai thuvaiyal’.

 

I use strong bread flour to get a nice soft and bouncy roti, but plain flour is traditionally used for this recipe.

 

For a healthier version – use multigrain atta, wholemeal or spelt flour. Click here for other healthy flours you could use.

For a gluten-free recipe – use the same amount of rice flour but you will need more water to make a pliable dough

Makes approximately 10 – 12 small roti’s

Ingredients

• 3 cups strong white bread flour
• 1 cup water at room temperature (but you may need more depending for a pliable dough)
• 1 cup grated coconut (fresh coconut is better – but you can use unsweetened dessicated coconut if fresh is unavailable. You need to soak the dessicated coconut in some coconut milk for 30 minutes to soften)
• 2 tablespoons coriander – cut finely
• 1 tablespoon of curry leaves – tear up roughly
• 1/2 cup finely cut shallots or white onion
• 3 green chillies (can leave out for children if you don’t want it spicy)
• Salt to taste – approximately 1.5 teaspoons
• 2 – 3 tablespoons oil

 

Method

1. In a large bowl add the flour, coconut, salt and oil and mix well. Then add water a little at a time until it forms a pliable dough, but not too sticky.  The dough should be a play-dough consistency and you will need to knead it for about 10 minutes.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and combine well with the dough. You can now keep this aside until you are ready to use, or rest this for about 1 hour.
3. Make dough balls of the same size – you may need to apply a little oil on your hands to make this easier.
4. Take one dough ball and place in between 2 pieces of foil. Roll out into a circular shape and then cook on a non-stick pan or a cast iron skillet on a low/medium flame. These roti’s do take longer to cook compared to chapathi’s, so you need to be patient.
5. Cook on both sides until you see brown spots all over the roti.
6. Repeat with the rest of the dough balls and serve with your favourite curry or chutney (you can wrap these up in foil/damp cloth if you wish to serve these at a later time and then just warm in the oven when you are ready)