As I mentioned when I made the Mission Street Food Buttery Flatbread, one of the reasons I was a little disappointed by that flatbread was my preexisting love of an easier version... I first made these Roti Canai almost 5 years ago when I was still living in Australia. (I have no idea where the original recipe came from anymore...) They're kind of fun to make, super-delicious, and super-buttery...
The ingredients are cheap and easy: AP flour, water, condensed milk, kosher salt, and melted ghee. Everything comes together and is briefly kneaded until it forms a not-too-sticky ball.
After resting for 30 minutes, the dough is divided into balls. (Mine were about 70-75g each. I wanted 21 instead of 20 from this double-batch because I like to serve 3 with each bowl of curry for utter decadence.)
After resting for at least 2 hours, the fun begins...
Each ball of dough is gently flattened between butter-coated hands, and then stretched into a very thin sheet, using a large bowl to help... You don't have to be all the delicate here, but I found that as I grew impatient after the first 15 perfectly-stretched balls of dough, I started to tear a couple. As long as you take your time (and suppress your hostility), though, the dough is quite elastic...
A tablespoon of melted ghee is drizzled over this, and then the sides are folded in to shape the dough into (approximately) a square. Below is my interpretation of this step in the instructions. I honestly have no idea if I'm doing it right or not, but I like the finished result so I keep on doing it that way...
The squares of dough can now be lightly floured and gently rolled. I found that they were too delicate to roll right after stretching and folding, so I just gently flattened in a little flour using my hands, then rolled (after refrigerating) right before cooking...
These can be stacked in layers of plastic wrap/parchment and kept, wrapped, in the fridge until you're ready for dinner. Then it's just a matter of tossing them in a relatively hot skillet (brushed with additional ghee, of course) and cooking until browned and delicious. If everything has gone according to plan, you should see the bread puffing up a little as it cooks...
The time start-to-finish is a bit long, but no step is particularly taxing... especially given how delicious the end result is. My favorite use for these is with Beef Rendang, but I think I'll use a batch next time I make Mission Street Food-style flatbreads, as well...
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