While I love Chicago (to a degree) and have committed to working here for the next few years, there are some things that really irk me about the place. For example, the lack of diversity in the food scene. Sure Chicago is known as a restaurant town but I challenge you to find a Portuguese or more than one Trinidadian restaurant. I’m sure there are tons of other countries that aren’t represented but having grown up in Toronto, those two stood out.
I haven’t been to the basically one Trinidadian restaurant here because a) it’s far from where I live and b) I’ve heard it isn’t that great. When I first moved out here I was craving doubles and decided to bite the bullet and just learn how to make me some doubles. A success! I was home over American Thanksgiving and got in my Trinidadian food fix but when I got back to Evanston I was still craving roti. I seriously contemplated renting a ZipCar and driving down to the South Side to try the Trinidadian spot. As in, I was on ZipCar’s website and was looking for cheap cars near me in the next hour. No cheap cars were available (and I surely wasn’t renting a luxury car for this endeavour) so that got me thinking about making my own roti.
I know I can whip up a pot of curry ANYTHING so the filling wasn’t the issue, it was just the roti skin, or wrapper that would be the problem. I honestly had no concept of how to make the roti skin and assumed that I would need some crazy, special equipment. I took to the interwebs and was borderline overwhelmed by all of the information. There are so many different types of roti skin! I mean there’s buss-up shot, sada roti, paratha roti, dhal puri roti, dosti roti and probably others that I’m forgetting. Then I wasn’t sure which were more common in Trinidadian cooking vs. Indian cooking. The most recognizable to me was dhal puri roti (aka the roti skin that has a layer of crushed peas in it) so I decided to go down that route. I also learned that rotis are traditional made on a tawa which I obviously didn’t have. A little googling revealed that I could make them in a very large frying pan, so that’s what I did.
The process of making roti isn’t difficult but it is on the time consuming side. You have to make the dough and let it rest. Make the filling and let it cool. Fill the dough and flatten it. And then finally you cook the roti skins. From start to finish the process of making the skins was about an hour give or take. Not the worst in terms of time commitment but it’s often pretty hands on and there is definitely room for frustration when it comes to filling the dough with the peas and then flattening it out. I was very careful and still had some of the peas try to escape the dough.
Making my own roti skins felt like the final frontier in achieving self-sufficiency for foods I crave. Honestly it tasted just like some of my favourite roti skins. Plus it I wasn’t hard to make at all. AND you can make a bunch at once, freeze some and always have roti skins on hand. Brilliant. I made a chicken, chickpea/channa and potato filling and was basically in heaven. I honestly feel like I’ve unlocked a secret Mario level or something with this roti-making situation.
Do it.
Homemade Dhal Puri Roti
For the filling
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon ground roasted geera (cumin)
2 cups split peas (dhal)
1/4 of a scotch bonnet pepper (or any hot pepper you like)
For the dough
3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon baking powder
water (see note below)
5 tablespoon vegetable oil
For the filling…
Sort and rinse the split peas. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the split peas and tumeric. Reduce heat to a rolling boil and cook for about 20 minutes or until tender. Drain and set aside to cool. You can make the dough in the meantime if you wish.
Once cooled, add the split peas and remaining ingredients for the filling into a food processor. Process until there are no more whole peas or large peas (large pieces may tear the dough later on). Set aside.
For the dough…
In a large bowl combine the flour, salt and baking powder. Add water to form a dough and knead to a firm consistency adding water as necessary. Combine dough into one big ball, rub with some oil and divide into about 8 balls. Cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap and allow it to rest for about 20 minutes.
To fill, take one of the balls and flatten it into a pancake shape. Heap about 2-3 tablespoons of filling into each (you’ll need to start cupping the dough in a bowl shape as you heap). Continue forming a bowl shape to bring the dough over the filling and pinch to seal. Repeat with remaining dough.
To cook, heat your tawa or frying pan over medium/high heat and brush with oil. On a floured surface roll out the stuffed dough balls one at a time until it is as big as your frying pan or cooking surface (about 12-14 inches). It should be fairly thin at roughly 1/8 inch thick.
Drape the rolled out dough over a frying pan to make transferring it to the pan easier. Allow to cook on the first side for about 30 seconds while brushing the top with some oil. Use a spatula or if you are adept, your hands, to quickly flip the roti to the other side (it shouldn’t stick to the pan). Cook for about another minute or two, brushing the top with oil and flip over. Cook until the roti has brown spots and is pliable. As you’re cooking you’ll notice the roti beginning to inflate, that’s also a sign that the roti is ready. Fold the cooked roti on a plate and cover with a towel while you cook the others.
Roti can be made en masse and wrapped in parchment, plastic wrap or foil and stored in the fridge or freezer. They are easily reheated in the microwave.
Be careful when placing the rolled out dough onto the tawa as it will be hot. After about a minute, using your hand if you’re a pro or a couple spatulas flip the roti. Now give this side a quick brush with the oil. You may have to flip this a couple times. It will take a bout 4-6 minutes to fully cook and you’ll notice that it will start to “swell” or inflate as cooks. That’s a sign that it’s ready to be removed off the tawa. Repeat this step for the remaining 5 roti.
Recipe via Caribbean Pot
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Love love LOVE rotis!