ROTI CANAI AND BHINDI MASALA

Roti Canai:
Pronounced as "Roti Chennai", this is a very popular snack in Malaysia. I treid as best as I can to make this, which is not that easy to make as traditionally done in that country.

Roti Canai (pronounced as Chanai)is a popular bread in Malaysia. As I read about their cuisine,they are made mainly by south Indians who migrated to Malaysia many years ago. It takes half a lifetime for a inexperienced cook like me to perfect it.They are really beautiful to look at and art of making it is astounding in the book! After a lot of trial and error, here is the 'how to', for layered flaky Roti Canai!!

YOU NEED:

4 Cups Plain Flour
1 Egg
2-3 tbsp Oil or Butter
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Sugar or 2 tbsp Condensed Milk

HOW TO MAKE:

1. Mix all the above and knead until you get smooth ,soft, pliable dough.Divide into 6-8 portions, make balls ,smear oil and cover the dish. Rest for half an hour,not more than that.
2. Take a ball of dough, roll out as thin as possible to a circle, spray no-stick oil on the surface.Then from one end make narrow pleats(like waves) to make a thin long rectangle and roll this around itself ,tuck the end underneath this pinwheel.
3. Roll this out again gently so as not to break the layers into a small 5-6" circles.Bake on a non-stick pan with little oil or ghee smeared until golden.
4. After you take it out of the pan,gently press the ends the Roti to release the beautiful layers. Serve with any veg or non-veg gravy.I served with Bhindi(Okra) Masala.

Bhindi Masala:


Okra!! Some hate it (mainly 'cause they don't know how to deal with the 'slime'!) and some love it !! I belong to the latter group. This is a simple but tasty recipe goes well with Chapatis. Hope you will try it !

YOU NEED:
1/2 lb Okra sliced
2 Small Potatoes(if you like to add)
5-6 Cherry Tomatoes
Cilantro
1/2 tsp Sugar
Salt
Lemon Juice 1 tsp (optional)

SEASON:
2 tsp Oil and Butter
1 tsp each of Chana Dal and Urad Dal
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 Cumin Seeds
Few Curry Leaves
1 Red Dry Chilly

1/2 tbsp ground ginger
2 Garlic ground Garlic
1 Onion finely chopped

2 tsp Coriander Pd
1 tsp Cumin Pd
1/2 tsp Garam Masala
1/2 tsp chilli pd or more

METHOD:
1. Fry Okra pieces in a single layer with some oil in a non-stick pan until golden and you donot see any glutinous slime. Fry potato cubes the same way .Keep aside.
2. Heat Oil and butter,add seasoning ingredients, stir and add in ginger to onion stir-fry until soft.Add Salt and sugar.
3. Add all powdered spices and tomatoes, stir until thick and shiny on top.
4. Put in okra and potatoes with 1 cup water , cover the pan and cook until cooked.
5. Garnish with Cilantro ,lemon juice and serve Chapatis or Parathas or Rotis.

Enjoy!:))