Roti Prata, Tekka Hawker Center. December 2012
Simple pleasures
Paratha:
Parathas are one of the most popular unleavened flatbreads in the Indian Subcontinent, made by baking or cooking whole wheat dough on a tava (huge, round griddle), and finishing off with shallow frying. Parathas are thicker and more substantial than chapatis/rotis and this is because, in the case of a plain paratha, they have been layered by coating with ghee or oil and folding repeatedly (much like the method used for puff pastry or some types of Turkish börek) using a laminated dough technique
[Wikipedia]
Roti Prata (Roti Canai in Malaysia) is my ultimate snack food in South Asia, Malaysia, and Singapore. The layered, fried bread can be enfolded with a variety of ingredients (different vegetables, cheese, egg) or just plain. I am partial to plain or the occasional egg. It is served hot and best eaten immediately. Cold paratha doesn't taste good. Just as important to the meal is the dipping sauce which is usually a meat-flavored (with very little meat) curry gravy with a few veggies thrown in. Basically, take the bread, tear off pieces (while mildly burning the fingertips), and dip in the gravy. Yumminess.
Roti Prata stalls are usually busy and the queues can be long. While waiting, it is mesmerizing to watch the dough maker stretch and fold the bread repeatedly before handing it off to the guy who will fry it. Considering how labor-intensive the bread is, the price point is quite cheap. I can't imagine being a paratha dough-slinger who endlessly pulls and folds bread all day long. Those guys must have incredible muscles in their arms. After waiting what feels like FOREVER, an order is placed quickly (know what you want, please!) and then the fryer folds into the dough whatever was requested. The add-ons are layered as well. The bread is thrown on a paper plate with a small bowl of gravy (as in the above photo) and diners scurry off to find a table and sit down and enjoy it hot.
I learned to love roti prata in Singapore where it became my unhealthiest snack. Fried bread is never going to be good for the arteries even if it is whole wheat. I had it as breakfast, as a snack any time of day, and frequently with beer in the evenings. One of the foods I miss most from Singapore is roti prata. In Malaysia, the bread tastes the same, but the dipping sauces are a bit more firey. In Tamil Nadu, India a lot of the paratha shops are pure vegetarian. Although I loved Singapore's roti prata, it cannot compare to the version from India. Think about liking croissant in the USA and then eating croissant in FRANCE - it is that amazingly different. Apparently, the Punjabis of North India have laid claim to the original recipe, but the version I came to know drifted across the Andaman Sea from Southern India. The only issue in Tamil Nadu was that paratha was more of an afternoon/evening snack while in Singapore it is virtually available 24/7.
Paratha/Roti Prata/Roti Canai is extremely cheap snack food. Again, not healthy, but a delicious way to fill up one's belly. I often saw foreign workers in Singapore polishing off a couple on a break from their heavy manual labor jobs. Paratha in the USA at an Indian restaurant is expensive (remember, it is labor intensive) as are most traditional breads. I usually cave in and get bread with a meal, but considering that bread is usually FREE or almost free in South Asia with a meal, paying a premium for it in the USA often makes me think that rice is really the best alternative. I shouldn't be so cheap!