Thai Street Food-Roti Gluay

Recipe by David Thompson Lines from around these stalls as people wait patiently for their rotis. They are made on at time, the pastry stretched and thrown, the banana sliced and the roti folded and cooked in front of the growing crowd. It is patently worth the wait, because people come back time and again. Make one find out why. The stalls tend to be quite large, to accommodate the vast, round and slightly concave and beautifully seasoned hotplate on which the roti can be slid around as the cook decides. The gentle heat is always on, as there is always a roti on order.

Margarine seems such an improbable ingredient here, but it is what is used. Thai cook believe it enriches on dish without making it “smelly” as better would. So margarine it is, foe the sake of unlikely authenticity. Some stalls offer variations: banana with egg, roti alone or with coconut jam. I think just sliced banana is best, but for me the piece de resistance is the addition of condensed milk and sugar-perfection! Roti Recipe serves 4 Roti 10 gram Salt 250 gram Flour, Pastry 150 gram Water 60 gram Egg 40 gram Margarine 200 gram Coconut Oil ( Nahm man bua) Vegetable oil for frying 2 medium Banana Condense Milk Sugar To make the roti, mix the salt into ¼ cup of water. Sieve the flour into a blow and make a well in the centre. Add the egg, stirring to form a crumbly dough, then gradually work in the salted water. Knead for about 15 minutes until the dough is silken, soft and tender. Transfer to a bowl rubbed with a smear of the margarine and leave to rest, covered, for an hour. Roll the dough between cupped hands to make a large oval. Squeeze into two balls about 4 cm in diameter and roll cupped hands to smooth their surface. Return the dough balls to the bowl and cover in the oil dotted with the margarine piece. Steep, covered and in a warm place (but not so warm that the margarine will melt), foe at least 3 hours or overnight.

Place a large, heavy, well-seasoned pan over a very low heat. Oil the bench and hands well with some of the oil from the bowl. Take out one of the dough balls and press it against the bench with two or three fingers, spreading it to make a dish about 15 cm in diameter. Now ‘cast’ the dough by holding one edge of the dish and, using a throwing motion and the weight of the dough itself, stretch it until it is as thin and film-like as strudel or pastry. Those less daring or dexterous can resort to a rolling pin! Fold in the outer edges to even the roti and make a large square.

Spoon a few tablespoons of the oil from the bowl into the pan. Allow it to heat then carefully lift the roti into the pan. Shuffle the pan and, once the roti has begun to cook, move it about with a spatula. Quickly peel the banana and cut into 5 mm slices, then cast them into the centre of the roti. When the roti has partly cooked, fold two opposite sides over the banana then bring over the other two sides to form a sealed, square parcel.

Add a nut of the margarine from the bowl and shake the pan as it melts and sizzles, cooking and burnishing the roti. Carefully turn the roti over with spatula, adding a little more oil if necessary and shuffling the pan to prevent the roti from sticking. As this side cooks, add another nut of the margarine. Once the second side is golden and cooked, turn the roti two or three times quite quickly, then remove to a plate. Make the other toti.