Finally I have taken some photos and my recipe is ready to be posted. If you are South African you will know it’s “blasphemous” to make it anything other than soft…haha! As you will know if you have been reading my posts, I was raised in a South Indian home. Roti was not a staple in our home so it took me a lot of trial and error to get it to perfection. I remember the days my hubby cringed when I made them. It was too thick, too thin, too hard, some days like rubber, other days rock hard….Lol! I can safely say I have finally passed the test. You know they say “practice makes perfect”. I have watched my mum-in-law make them and I have asked her a million questions so I never fail again. She is quite the expert at making rotis. Nothing is measured either. I am proud to say I have also reached that level of expertise, I no longer measure my ingredients when making these Soft Butter Rotis. However, that too comes with patience and loads of practice. Roti is similar to Paratha.
Soft Butter Rotis
Tips on how to make the perfect Roti
If you read my little post on roti making, you will find a few helpful tips. Firstly, your water has to be freshly boiled straight out the kettle. Depending on where you live and the weather you may require less than a cup of water. You can use butter or oil, doesn’t make a difference. I have tried them both and they work equally well. Your dough will feel a little sticky at first but as you knead the dough will become silky smooth. I usually don’t add salt to my dough but you can add a pinch if you wish.
Perfectly round Rotis
Perfectly round rotis are only achieved by starting with a neat ball of dough. If you start with a great foundation you will achieve a great final product. I personally love the rotating rolling pins, it works well for me. My Indian flatbreads are perfectly round when I use this rolling pin as I feel that I can roll my dough with ease. But you can use any rolling pin that you are comfortable with. You must also dust your surface with flour, the dough is soft so you need the flour to help you roll it out.
Resting the dough
If you have the time you can cover your dough with a damp kitchen towel and let it rest for half an hour, that’s guaranteed to make them perfectly soft. I don’t usually have time for this but one day I had an emergency and couldn’t finish up my roti-making and when I got back to finish them I had the softest rotis. I also mentioned in my post about roti making about not having to knead your dough too much. The most I’ve kneaded my dough for is about 2 minutes and this works perfectly well as long as you get a smooth silky dough.
I must admit this is not an easy task and you may not get it right the first time. But please don’t despair because they say “practice makes perfect”. Keep at it and you will definitely become an expert after a few attempts. There are days I thought I will never reach that level of success ever but I am so proud of my efforts these days. If you do try this recipe please drop me a note, I would love to hear how it turned out. You may want to try these curry recipes to go with your delicious rotis: Durban Lamb Curry Spicy Chicken Curry Sugar Bean Curry Prawn Curry If you loved this, please share!
