Roti Jala aka Roti Renjis

A couple of weeks ago I attempted to make Roti Jala (I'm more familiar with this version of its name) and dug up mum's recipe book to take a look at the ingredients. It seemed easy enough so I headed over to her house to get the cup-with-holes (see pic on the right) which is traditionally used to make 'em.

And in case you were wondering, here's the Malay-English translation:
Roti = Bread
Renjis = Sprinkle
Jala = Net
So now you know.

The ingredients are as follows:

• 4 medium-sized eggs (beaten in a largish bowl)
• 500 ml evaporated milk (add to beaten eggs)
• half teaspoon salt 
• 2 tablespoon vegetable oil (put them all in there)
• whisk in 200g plain flour and work at it till all the lumps are gone.

Now the fun bit. Making sure your non-stick pan is nice and hot, pour some of the batter into the holey-cup and as it dribbles out the end, make circular motions around the pan till you see something that resembles a holey pancake.

Then quickly turn down the heat so it doesn't burn while the surface cooks.

Be careful the pan is hot enough when the batter makes contact with it so as not to end up with a flat giant pancake with no holes. You want the heat to be strong enough that the batter cooks and hardens on contact with the pan.

When the surface looks firm enough (and not runny) gently lift the whole piece and turn it over once, then fold it in half and then half again. Set on a plate and then start on the next one.

The portions above make about 30 18cm-diamater pieces.

Things to note:

1. Have a satay stick handy in case the holes get clogged up. If the batter is too thick, add a little more milk.
2. If you intend to make these in advance and keep it for the next day, put some foil over the lot and fridge it. Pop the whole thing in a warmer (I used an oven, keeping the foil on) or steam before serving.
3. Ideally a cup with one or two holes makes for better manoeuvrability so that you can actually join up the edges into a complete circle. If you can't find one, do like I did and stuff the insides of the 4-holed cups. I used only 2 of the holes.
4. This is usually served with a meat curry or kurma. However if you prefer chocolate sauce or honey, that's fine too.

Happy Cooking :)