What Is Roti Canai?
Roti canai if translated directly from Malay language would be “Flattened bread”. Roti is bread. Canai is flattened or more accurately is the method of throwing the bread dough in the air in a spinning motion, intending to get thinner and bigger flat dough.
Roti canai is a very well-known dish in my home country Malaysia. It’s a flatbread with influences from India. It’s usually sold in Mamak restaurants and eaten with dhal curry. You can also have it with fish curry and sambal or with any of these curry recipes:
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Roti Canai And Us
In my whole life back in my home country, I’ve only bought roti canai at our favorite Mamak restaurants.
When the whole family got together or when relatives came to visit, I would get up very early in the morning and go to buy 30-40 pieces of roti canai for breakfast. My nephews or nieces would tag along. And yes, we’re that many.
I remember on my 11th birthday my father asked me what I wanted, I said I wanted roti canai. And so he bought me roti canai.
Roti canai for me is not only a flatbread that I eat with dhal curry. For me, it reminds me of all those wonderful memories that I cherish of my family.
And now that I’m living here in Spain, I don’t want to lose all that. I started making my roti canai. Something that I thought I would never be able to do. But I did it. Until now.
My husband is a fan of roti canai after I introduced it to him. He just fell in love with roti canai and dhal curry. Sometimes I think he’s a bigger fan than I am.
And now for me making roti canai is nothing rare. I like to use my standing mixer to do all the kneading, just like in my amazing Lebanese flatbreads (Man'oushe za'atar). It does take quite some minutes to knead as we want the dough to be very elastic. This will make it easier to stretch later.
I don’t do the flying dough method. No, nope. I simply stretch the dough on my kitchen top until it’s transparent and thin. Then I would make it into a round or square shape. In the video below you can see how I always do it. It’s very simple.
My husband, on the other hand, is practicing the flying dough method. Once he nails it, maybe we film it for the channel.
So if you’re living abroad and missing your roti canai, do try this recipe. Or if you’re back home and simply want to make homemade roti canai, this recipe is for you. I hope you will like the roti canai as we do.
Video Recipe
📖 Recipe
Malaysian Flatbread (Roti Canai)
Ingredients
- 4 cups bread flour (520 g)
- 1 egg , room temperature
- 3 tablespoon unsalted butter (40 g), melted
- 1 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk
- 1 ¼ cup water (310 ml)
- 1 teaspoon salt (not shown in video)
Instructions
The Dough
- In a standing mixer bowl, add in flour, salt, egg, melted butter, condensed milk and water. Mix to incorporate and knead for 10 minutes. Leave to rest for 10 minutes and knead for another 5 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 10 small balls. Coat each ball generously with unsalted butter and place them in a container that has been generously buttered. Cover the container tightly with cling film and keep in the fridge overnight.
Shaping
- The next day. Spread some unsalted butter on the working surface. Take one ball and lightly flatten it. Press and push the dough with the heel of your palm to make it bigger. Stretch it as thin as possible, until you can almost see through it. Now and then spread some soften unsalted butter on it to help the stretching. Optional, lift up one edge of the dough and gently pull to stretch it even more.
- Scrape and push the upper end of the dough to the middle. Do the same to the lower end, forming a wrinkle thin log. Starting at one end of the log, roll it into a circle and tuck the other end inside. Leave aside for 10 minutes before cooking. Meanwhile you can continue with the rest of the balls.
Cooking
- Once ready to cook, take one rolled circle and flatten it into more or less 10-15 cm diameter. Heat some unsalted butter on a pan using medium heat. Place the flatten dough on the pan. Cook for several minutes and then flip. Continue cooking for some minutes more.
- This is important for a fluffy roti canai. Remove the cooked roti canai and place it on a working surface. Immediately yet carefully grab it using both of your hands and squeeze it to the center. We want to fluff it. You can see this part more clear in the video above.
- Keep the roti canai under a kitchen cloth to keep them warm. They're best eaten with dhal curry or any type of curry with some sambal. Enjoy!
Notes
- If the balls are a bit difficult to spread (the next day), rest them at room temperature for 10-15 minutes.
- This roti canai is with less salt because it's not intended to be eaten alone. It's usually dipped in varieties of curries. Add more salt as needed, depending on how you want to eat it.
- Using All Purpose Flour
- I've tried using all purpose flour and my verdict is; although it's not as flexible as using bread flour (due to lack of gluten developed), it is still workable. The dough also tends to break when you stretch it very thin.
- Use LESS water. I'd suggest start with 1 cup (250 ml). When kneading, look inside the standing mixer bowl, the dough shouldn't stick to the bottom or side and the bowl should be clean of dough (nothing sticks). Add flour bit by bit as needed. I ended up adding around 4-6 tablespoon (30-50 g) more.
- The dough should be soft but not sticky. Watch the video above to see the right texture.
- Substitute To Sweetened Condensed Milk
- I've tried using ½ tablespoon (10 g) honey, it works just fine.
Nutrition Facts
The nutrition facts provided are an estimate per serving. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Karla Ocampo says
Hi what if I added too much butter?
Bea says
Hi Karla! At what point did you add too much butter?
Kathrin says
Terima kasih!
I have lived in Malaysis/Kelantan for 3 years, and I dearly miss roti canal. Funny enough, I never had the idea to try and make it... but I shall sure give it a try tomorrow!
Bea says
Really? That's awesome! I hope you have fun making it, it's not as difficult as everybody thinks it is. Dan sama-sama! 😀
Rob Lucas says
Wow!! Looks delicious. I'll be making some.
P says
Hi Bea,
Is there any way I can make this the same day, instead of the next day?
Bea says
Yes, I've tried having the dough ready and resting for 4 hours and it worked. Less flavour developed but yea, doable. Hope it helps.
Cristina Rosu says
Also just a heads up - the link to dhal curry on the page goes to a picture not a recipe. Not sure if you intended it that way.
Bea says
Thank you so much for the heads up! I've corrected it 😀
Cristina Rosu says
Hi Bea. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe and the beautiful memories and back story. I'm going to give it a try today with some lentil curry 🙂
Bea says
Hi Cristina! I hope you had fun making it! I just made it together with murtabak and dhal curry last Sunday. Enjoy!
TARA says
Hello. I am thrilled to try your recipe. My husband and I spent 6 weeks in Kuala Lumpur in 06 of '98. This was our favourite breakfast, usually with the bananas & egg. I am living in a small community in Mexico now & bread flour is difficult to come by. I guess I'll be using a lot of elbow grease for this one. I have also just purchased salted butter. Should I omit the salt in the recipe or use a lesser amount?
Bea says
Hi Tara! I'd say skip the salt since you're going to coat the balls with butter also afterwards. I've tried banana and egg roti canai and yes, they were delish! Have fun making these!
Jo says
Is it better to knead by hand or handmixer with dough hooks if you don’t have a stand mixer?
Jo says
Also are you supposed to leave the dough that’s been in the fridge overnight out for 10 mins before rolling it out?
Bea says
Personally I don't do that. But if you find it difficult to roll out, yes leave it for a few minutes.
Bea says
I'd say better knead it by hand since I find handmixer with dough hooks don't really knead that good.
Sandra says
Dear Bea,
Do I need to use condense milk? Can I use cream instead?
How much can I use if cream is allowed?
Sandra
Bea says
Hi Sandra! Please refer to my substitute of condensed milk in the recipe card above, thanks!
Tanj says
Hi! Can I use all purpose flour instead of bread flour? What would be the difference? Will it be on the texture?
Tanj says
Sorry, I jumped right into to the ingredients and recipe. The answer is already there. Thanks!
Bea says
Great! Have fun making it 😊!
Samantha says
Hi Bae, may I know can I keep them in the freezer after shaping them?
And how to prevent them sticking to each other if I were to keep them in the freezer please.
Thank you.
Bea says
Hi Samantha. I'd recommend you to freeze them already cooked. Wrap them individually with cling film and just place in the freezer. Thaw at room temperature and reheat in a pan (few minutes in the oven works also). Hope it helps.
Betty Ellis says
I made this today having refrigerated the dough over night. I enjoyed the challenge of making it and found it not difficult. I did forget to butter the dough at first as I stretched it out and found it easier when I did. I have yet to learn to get the dough paper thin.
Unfortunately I ate for of the flat bread while making them.
They were so very very delicious.
Bea says
Haha! Yes they're very tempting to just look at, right? I'm happy that you find it fun and not difficult to do. Thank you Betty!
Lil says
Hi Bea, I don't hv condensed milk. Can I substitute with just 1% low fat milk. That's just about what I have 😜 I am in the wilderness in my cottage in Canada! Can't wait to try making roti canai. Thanks!
Bea says
Hi Lil! Just use honey or some sugar. Roti canai in the wilderness, I love it! Have fun!
Nina radzlan says
I just come accross your roti canai recipe. Thanks for sharing. Your instructions is very clear. I believe i can do it (?) During this Movement Control Order (MCO) this is one of my aciviities, aside Working From Home tasks. I hope i'll be able to do it this weekend. Wish me luck. Thanks again
Bea says
Of course you can, Nina 😀 ! Good luck, let me know how it goes!
Jeri says
Thank you for this recipe, it is so clear instructions and easy to follow.
My son love it.
Bea says
Awesome! I'm happy to know that, thank you Jeri!
ANGIE says
Tried and it tasted delicious. We’re in movement control order now and my daughter who missed it was happy with what I made. Thanks for the video. Made it all clear. I do have some difficulty to get it flattened before frying. Any reason for that?
Bea says
Hi Angie! Try resting the twisted balls for 10 minutes to relax them, then flatten them. It'll be easier. I'm happy to know that your daughter loved it, thank you!
Rizal says
Loved the recipe. Just a point to note though...'canai' actually means flattening the dough..
Hope i didn't come across sounding rude. Thanks again for the recipe...
Bea says
Ok noted! Have rectified the post accordingly. Thank you!
Weemee says
Hello there,
After watching and researching so many websites and videos on making roti canai, I decided to use yours for its simplicity to understand.
I have made my dough and they’re resting at the moment. Can’t wait till dinner tomorrow.
In my excitement whilst making the dough, I actually added the water to the dry ingredients from the beginning instead of gradually adding it in. As a result, my dough was still sticky after the 10-10-5 minutes method. I decided to gradually add more for as I used the standing mixer to knead it. It was set to knead at probably speed 2/3. Do you think my sticky dough is due to the swing of water at the beginning or due to the speed of the mixer? I don’t believe the recipe stated a l kneading speed to use. I also used bread flour that’s from a bakery. So what could have gone wrong? I did save it in the end. Fingers crossed tomorrow.
Wee Mee says
Hello, so we had the roti for dinner, it wasn’t bad for the first try. I managed to stretch it out a lot till transparent but when I tried it, it was not as thin as I’d expected. Anyhow the family liked it. Thank you.
Debbie says
Hi Bea
I am in the UK and the kids love roti. Is there a possibility of substituting the condense milk for sugar? I can't get it at the moment due to the current situation.
Bea says
Hi Debbie! Yes of course, no problem. Have fun making the roti!