Unleavened Bread (Roti) & Sardine Sambal

We were browsing through the bookshelves at the MPH store in a newly opened shopping mall called The Spring recently when I decided to purchase yet another cookery book. This one -

(one of my favouritest cookery mag of all time peeks from behind!)

and I was delighted that I did. Flicking through the pages I found recipes of foods reminiscent of my childhood; though some would have been known by another name in our household :). I was eager to try out the particular few that we would find my nanny (my maternal grandma) and mom preparing for us as kids. My nan was an avid pancake maker; and I remember as a child that she had taught me how to make a form of unleavened bread that she had learnt from one of her indian friends. It was an easier version of our famous 'roti canai.' As I made the unleavened roti (in the pic below) in my mind's eye, I traveled way back in time to my mom and nan's kitchen; reliving once again the many wonderful and pleasurable times spent there... Ahhh, memories, sweet memories; food for my nostalgic heart! :)

My mom too prepared many forms of unleavened bread or roti as it's locally known. We loved the coconut roti that she prepared often. It was a typical Sri Lankan roti that we enjoyed hot sprinkled with granulated sugar and downed with a pot of milky tea. I believe my mom had learnt how to make this roti from my paternal grandma, whom we called Granny. I still make it to this day. The coconut roti is also listed in this cookery book. And so is a sago pancake that my nan used to make! But I found that it was disimilar to my nan's in that the author uses processed sago pearls ( meant to be used in preparations of local kueh/bubur/pengat) instead of the fresh sago flour that my nan would use. As I recall there were only three ingredients used; fresh/wet sago flour, freshly grated young coconut and salt - which my nan would mix together by hand. She'd have a hot greased pan ready, and she would just sprinkle this mixture liberally in the pan to form a pancake. As it cooked, the starch in the sago flour would turn translucent and become gluey/sticky; this was what held everything together. We would consume this roti in the same fashion we would the others; sprinkled liberally with sugar when hot!! We were happy well-fed kids!




This is the roti I made from a recipe adapted from the book pictured above - roti air hangat or hot water unleavened bread. I served for a lazy Sunday breakfast with sardine sambal. Delightful.

Roti Air Hangat (adapted from the book-Sweet and Savoury Malay Kueh by Norzailina Nordin)


Plain (all purpose flour) - 300 g + 1-2 tbsp extra, if needed
Margarine - 180 g
Castor sugar - 1 tsp
salt - a small pinch
Hot water - 500ml ( I found this to be too much, so add gradually)

Cooking oil - 3-4 tbsp (for greasing pan)

• Sift flour into a large bowl. Rub in margarine until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Set aside.
• In a small jug, mix sugar and salt with hot water. Gradually pour hot water solution into flour and stir continuously for about 10 minutes.
• When mixture is lukewarm, knead quickly until dough does not stick to the fingers. Add a little more flour if necessary.
• Divide dough into ten portions. Take one portion and roll out into a cicle 4mm thick. Repeat with the rest of dough.
• Heat a heavy-based, skillet and grease with cooking oil.
• Place one rolled out dough and cook over low heat until bottom of bread turns light brown.
• Turn over and cook for a few minutes more.
• Serve with your choice of curries while bread is still hot and crispy.

Here's what I served mine with -

Sardine Sambal