Hooked on roti canai

It's always exciting to see your food prepared before your eyes and then to eat it the way it's meant be eaten. But after watching numerous culinary shows and live cooking demos you may probably say, "so what's the difference?" Well, the difference is in the preparation. Not only are the ingredients unique but so is the manner in which they are prepared which employs both culinary skills and a bit of showmanship, which of course can be exaggerated to suit the situation.

The food referred to here is not something that's served only in fine restaurants even though it is, but one that is very common in small eateries and even stalls. It's called Roti Canai aka Roti Paratha and it has become a very popular food in Malaysia.

Having it's roots in India it's not surprising that most if not all Roti Canai vendors are Indians. However, customers come from all walks of Malaysian life - students, office workers, laborers, singers, politicians - you name it, they all love it. Roti canai is most suitable for breakfast just as it is suitable for lunch and dinner.

It's made from flour dough mixed with ghee - made elastic after a lengthy beating - which is stretched almost paper-thin and nearly transparent. The stretching is where the artistic part comes in. The experienced roti canai maker first slaps the dough down repeatedly sometimes with a distinct rythym, picks it up and waves and spins it in mid-air with an agility that could amaze even the greatest juggler. Some maker incorporates dancing into the waving action which makes for a good entertainment for diners. The waving and spinning action causes the dough to thin and widen to about the diameter of a medium-size umbrella.

The stretched dough is then folded and grilled until the outer layer is brown and flaky. Some like their roti canai crispy on the outside.

Roti canai is most usually eaten with curry which itself comes in different varieties, and dahl (chickpeas stewed Indian sytle). Filings can also be requested. Most popular are sardines, eggs and margarine. But today most roti canai vendors improvise on their art, giving diners more options on the fillings.

Roti Canai or Roti Kosong

The original

Roti Sardine Special

Roti with sardine filling

Roti Bom

A smaller, thicker but oilier roti.

Roti Pisang

Roti with banana and sugar filling.

Roti Planta

Roti with generous margarine filling.

Roti Daging

Roti with chicken or stewed beef filling.

Roti Gula

Roti with sugar.

Roti Keju

Roti with shredded cheese filing.

Eating roti canai is never complete without an accompanying drink and the drink most suitable is teh tarik, a thick, sweet milky tea. Teh tarik litterally means pulled tea. It is prepared by pouring the tea from one cup to another repeatedly until it becomes frothy. The distance between the two cups is limited only by the length of the tea man's arms, and again showmanship is incorporated into the preparation. Some tea tarik pullers do stunts like pouring the tea behind their backs or dancing to imaginary music.

The usual and best way to eat roti canai is with the hands. Forks and spoons are always prepared but are quite useless when tearing the elastic bread.Tear off a bite-size chunk, dip it in the curry sauce and stuff in in your mouth. After you've savoured the unique taste of roti and curry it's time for a chaser - the extremely sweet teh tarik.

Teh O

The "O" is the letter O but it actually means zero. This is tea with no milk.

Teh Kosong

Kosong means empty. You ordered plain tea, with no sugar or milk.

Teh Madu

Tea with honey.

Teh Susu

Susu means milk. Be sure to indicate your choice of milk - condensed or raw pasteurised milk.

Teh Ais

Ais means ice. You get the idea.

Teh Halia.

Tea with ginger juice.

Teh Masala

Teh brewed with Indian spices

Teh Tongkat Ali

This is tea made from Eurycoma longifolia* known as Tongkat Ali in Malaysia. It is believed to have medicinal properties. Some Malaysians testify to Tongkat Ali having sexual enhancement properties.

* See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurycoma_longifolia