More Cooking Today…

One of the comments I got on my anniversary post asked about a recipe for Roti, which is an Indian flatbread…very similar to Naan, though not exactly the same. Roti is better. 😉 The Guyanese commenter, Shelliza, noted that when her mother tried to give her the recipe, it came out, “a handful, a pinch and this much”, which is just how Ted and his mom make it as well. So I can’t give you their recipe. However, my friend Cherry tried to find a recipe online, and she gave it a try. She said it was very yummy. I asked her for the recipe, and she said she melded it out of a couple of different recipes, and then she used what Ted had told her to make it work. She is going to make it again soon, and write it down. I’ll either post it, or if she wants to put it on her blog, I’ll link there. 🙂

In the meantime, here’s a recipe I found online. I like it because it’s in a Carribean ‘Voice’, and mentions the tawah.

Sadha Roti
4 cups sifted flour
4 tbsp shortening/margarine
2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
water

What tuh do?
1. Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl
2. Add enough water to form a smooth soft dough
3. Mix-in pieces of shortening/margarine in to the dough
4. Add water and mix to a stiff dough
5. Cut dough into small pieces and roll into balls about the size of a small orange
6. Flour kneading area and roll out to adequate thickness
7. Bake on a moderately hot tawah (large skillet if you don’t have one), turning regularly.

My notes: Ted says it makes a difference what kind of flour you use. Unbleached flour, and the fresher the better, makes the best roti. Also, in between steps 4 and 5, he rolls out the dough into one big rectangle, like a rectangular pie crust, and he brushes it with melted butter. Then he rolls it up in a tube, and cuts it like cinnimon rolls. He makes those into the balls mentioned in step 6. After turning the roti on the tawah, you brush it with melted butter. Flip once more, quickly, then as it puffs up and gets fluffy, you take it off of the tawah, and clap it between your hands to get the air out. Careful, the steam is HOT. Also, this is somewhat messy, so clap Roti over sink, man. 😉

I don’t know if I’m explaining it well. Cherry will probably do a better job than I am.

I also have a yummy recipe for Guyanese Lamb Stew, which I have made myself, and isn’t nearly as tricky as the Roti is.

Guyanese Lamb Stew
3 lbs lamb stew meat. With bones means more flavor, without means easier eating.
1 lemon
Vegetable oil for browning lamb
1 medium onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 tblsp brown sugar
3 tblsp vinegar
1 tsp chives
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1 15oz can diced tomatoes, with juice
1 can chicken broth
hot sauce, to taste. If you want this truly authentic, try to get your hands on some West Indian Hot Pepper Sauce. Use sparingly, though, because it’s HOT.

Squeeze lemon juice onto lamb. This takes away the ‘gamey’ flavor.
Brown the lamb in the oil over medium to medium high heat.
Add onions and garlic, cook for 5 minutes.

Add remaining ingredients, simmer for 1 – 1 1/2 hours or more.

When the meat is tender, thicken like you would a gravy, with flour or cornstarch.
Serve over rice, with some curried pumpkin as a side dish.

On a side note, Ted found this cookbook, and got it for his mom. It has recipes for things like Pepperpot and Yam Foo Foo. For his brother’s birthday, everyone took one dish from the book and made it, for a true Guyanese feast. Fun!

ROTI UPDATE
Ted tells me that the Roti recipe up there is wrong wrong wrong, that Sadha Roti is one ting, and Paratha Roti is another ting. (Fake carribian accent mine, just having fun you know…) So, I looked for a recipe for Paratha Roti, and came up with this:

Roti background:Roti is a very popular dish in Trinidad & Tobago where there are shops selling roti with different curry fillings (meat fillings – curry beef, shrimp, chicken or goat & non-meat fillings – curry potatoes). There are also different types of roti such as Dhalpouri, Dosti, Bus-up-shut (Paratha) and Sada roti. Please be aware that these are Trinidad-East Indian dishes and are often quite different from East Indian dishes cooked in India.

Equipment: A suitable flat iron surface like a large frying pan, a griddle, or ideally, a flat iron plate called a ‘tawah’ or ‘plateen’
A brush like a barbecue brush to apply the oil; some simply tie a few strips of cloth to the end of a wooden stick (called a ‘puchara’)

Paratha-Roti (Buss-Up-Shut)

Ingredients:
1 lb. flour (4 cups)
4 teaspoons. baking powder
1 teaspoon. salt
1 ½ oz. ghee/marg. or butter
1 3/4 cups water

Method:Sift flour, baking powder and salt. (J’s note…Ted does this in the Cuisenart) Add enough water to form a smooth soft dough. Knead well and leave for ½ hour covered with a damp cloth. Knead for second time and divide into four balls (loyah). Flour board and roll out dough to size 8″ or 9″ as desired, then spread with ghee and sprinkle with flour. Cut dough from centre to edge, roll tightly into a cone shape, press peak of cone into centre and flatten. Leave again for 30 min. Sprinkle flour on board and roll out very thin with rolling pin. Bake on a moderately hot bake stone (tawah) coating dough with oil on both sides as it cooks. Turn on both sides and cook about ½ mins. each side. Remove from baking stone and hit with wooden pallette until flaky or wrap in clean cloth and mash up. Often called “Buss-up-Shot.”

So there you go. Hope that helps. 😉