Roti jala, roti kirai or roti renjis (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: net bread or lace pancake; Jawi: روتي جالا) is a popular

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

and

Minangkabau Minangkabau may refer to: * Minangkabau culture, culture of the Minangkabau people * Minangkabau Culture Documentation and Information Center * Minangkabau Express, an airport rail link service serving Minangkabau International Airport (''see belo ...

tea time snack served with curry dishes which can be found in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. This is a very traditional Malay dish that is usually homemade and served at events such as weddings and festivals. It is usually eaten in sets of three to four pieces with curries, especially

chicken curry Chicken curry is a dish originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is common in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Great Britain, Caribbean, and Japan. A typical curry from the Indian subcontinent consists of chicken stewed in an onion- a ...

, as a substitute to rice.

History

Not much is known about the history of roti jala, but it is believed that it first came from India. The recipe was tweaked by locals after arriving in Malaysia. This is why we see similarities between roti jala and ‘putu mayam’ or string hoppers. The Malays, being originally fishermen and living by the sea, found inspiration for the snack from the nets they used for fishing, thus the name. It is also called ''roti renjis'', which means "Rinsed Bread", because of the original way it was made, which was by hand, in which the ingredient would be 'rinsed' onto the pan to be cooked. ''roti kirai'' is another name in which 'kirai' refers to the circular motion of the hand when pouring the ingredient from a condensed milk can with tiny holes poked through it. ''Jalara dosa'' originated from ''roti jala''.

Preparation

The ingredients consist mainly of flour, eggs, milk (dairy or coconut), and a pinch of

turmeric Turmeric () is a flowering plant, ''Curcuma longa'' (), of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae, the rhizomes of which are used in cooking. The plant is a perennial, rhizomatous, herbaceous plant native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asi ...

. They are combined with water to form a runny batter, then drizzled onto a hot pan in a circular motion. A specialized utensil is often used, resembling a cup with multiple outlets beneath, which aids the creation of the "net-like" effect.

Comparison with string hoppers

While both foods consist of string-like batter, ''roti jala'' is made with wheat flour while

string hoppers Idiyappam ( ta, இடியப்பம்/இடியாப்பம், Malayalam: ഇടിയപ്പം), also known as string hopper, ''indiappa'' ( Sinhala: ඉඳිආප්ප), ''noolputtu'' ( ta, நூல்புட்டு, M ...

are made with rice flour. ''Roti jala'' is made flat in a single layer (then folded or rolled up after cooking, as desired), while string hoppers are made into a small pile. ''Roti jala'' is essentially pan-fried, while string hoppers are steamed.

References

External links

* Malay cuisine Padang cuisine Singaporean cuisine Indonesian breads Indonesian snack foods Malaysian breads Malaysian snack foods {{Malaysia-cuisine-stub

History

Preparation

Comparison with string hoppers

See also

References

External links