Roti Canai

Roti means bread in Hindi, Urdu, most other North Indian languages, and Malay. The term “canai” derives either from:

• Chennai, a city in India which is formerly known as Madras. Roti canai is presumed to have been introduced by immigrant labour from the Madras region where a similar combination of parotta and dalcha – the accompanying lentil curry – is served.^[1]
• Channa, a dish made with boiled chickpeas in a spicy gravy from Northern India which this type of bread was traditionally served. However, the roti in Northern India is different from that served in Malaysia. The latter is more similar to the South Indian parotta, and roti canai is often served with dhal or lentils curry rather than chickpeas.
• The word ‘canai’ in Malay means ‘to roll out dough’.

Roti canai is circular and flat. There are two ways to make roti canai that is either to twirl it until the dough becomes a very thin sheet and then folded into a circular shape or to spread out the dough as thinly as possible before being folded. Then the folded dough is grilled with oil. The first method is more popular and faster than the second. The term ‘roti paratha’ in Malay means ‘plate bread’.

In Indonesia Roti canai is often spelled as “Roti cane”, and usually served with Kari Kambing (mutton curry). It was derived from Indian cuisine and came into Indonesia with the influx of Indian migration to Dutch East Indies in early 19th century. Roti cane has been adopted within Malay cuisine of Sumatra, Aceh cuisine, as well as Minangkabau cuisine; as the result Malay, Aceh, and Minangkabau restaurants in Indonesia often served Roti canai with mutton curry, and the seller and cook is no longer Indian as in Mamak stalls in Malaysia.

In English and in Chinese, roti canai is sometimes referred to as “flying bread” (飞饼 fēibǐng), a term that evokes the process of tossing and spinning by which it is made. In Chinese, Roti Canai is originally called 印度煎饼 “yin du jian bing”, which means Indian Fried Biscuit (Bread).

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