Roti Jala with Curry Chicken

The literal translation of Roti Jala is “net pancake” in Malay. It a beautiful name in English – lace pancake, which derives from the delicate, lace-like texture and appearance of the pancake. These lacy and net-like pancakes are very popular to be found at the pasar malam (a.k.a night market) or during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, where vendors set up temporary stalls selling roti jala to go with various curries offered. With this Roti Jala Recipe, and the right techniques and tools, you can make fresh and healthy low fat Roti Jala to rival anything you could find outside. And as you control the ingredients, you can customise it to suit your style.

For the batter section of this Roti Jala recipe we will use a low fat milk. The most challenging part of the Roti Jala recipe is to make the into a lacy net with lightning speed to prevent the crepe from being burnt.These lacy and net-like pancakes are very popular during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, where vendors set up temporary stalls selling roti jala to go with various curries offered.

No Roti Jala is complete without curries, not only it looks seductive on a plate, they are addictive when used to mop up curry sauce too! So, in this recipe we whipped up some Curry Chicken that made with Khimyan Curry Chicken Paste but you can also serve Roti Jala with Kapitan Curry or Fish & Prawn Curry.

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Preparation:

For the Roti Jala

• 250g all purpose flour
• 350ml low fat milk
• 100ml water
• 2 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1/2 tablespoon (ghee or butter to grease the pan)

For the Curry

Depends on your own preferences you can refer to the respective curry recipes such as Chicken Curry, Kapitan Curry or Fish & Prawn Curry .

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Direction:

1. Mix the all purpose flour, salt and turmeric together in a large bowl and make a well in the middle. Add the eggs to the well, plus a good splash of the milk and water mix. Whisk until smooth and thick, without any lumps. Gradually whisk in the rest of the milk and water mix until a thin “crepe-like batter” is achieved.
2. Strain the batter through a fine sieve.
3. Heat up a pan with medium heat and grease it with some ghee or butter.
4. Put a ladleful of batter into a roti jala mould and in a circular motion, form a thin lacy pattern in the pan.
5. After the top is set and done or when the bottom turns light brown (after about 30 secs), transfer the Roti Jala out and fold it into triangle shape. These roti jala cook very quickly, so watch them closely. Repeat with the remaining batter, adding more oil as needed.
6. Arrange the Roti Jala on serving plate and dip it with your favorite curry on the side and serve when it's still hot.

Tips:

As an alternative to the roti jala mould, you can also use a ketchup dispenser, just pour the sieved batter from the measuring cup into the ketchup dispenser. For this purpose, you will need a medium to large sized measuring cup.