What do I absolutely LOVE to eat with my chicken curry?
NOT white rice, nor noodles, nor a loaf of bread. It’s Roti Jala!! A soft, tender, lightly-chewy and stringy lace ‘pancake’, Roti Jala is The Best Accompaniment to soak up a hearty Singapore Chicken Curry.
Roti Jala is literally translated as ‘bread net’ from the Malay language. It’s a very popular tea time snack originating in Johor Bahru, the Malaysian state closest to Singapore. It’s more or less crepe batter, but with coconut milk instead of cow’s milk. Another addition is turmeric, which supports the egg yolk in giving the pancakes a beautiful yellow hue.
Roti Jala has always been one of my comfort foods and regular craves.
In Singapore, you can find Roti Jala in most pasar malams (night markets) or at the Malay food stall in a coffee shop/hawker centre. It is not as easily found as I want it to be, but I was lucky growing up! My parents’ home is located a mere 10 minutes’ walk away from a solid Roti Jala maker in a coffee shop in Marsiling.
In Germany, there is no such concept. D= So I have to make it myself!!
The mould needed to make Roti Jala. . .you don't need it!
The lacey pancake is normally made using a special mould, and some practice might be required to get a net-like pancake worth showing off! The stringy lace texture is more than just for show. It creates a texture that is perfect for soaking up and complementing curries.
I don’t have the mould in Germany, so I made a makeshift one by poking holes in a plastic bottle cap. I’ve heard that you could also use a plastic sauce bottle with a small nozzle, but I’ve not tried that method before.
Everything you need to make Roti Jala:
245 gm (1 3/4 cup) plain flour
3 gm (1 tsp) turmeric powder
5.5 gm (1 tsp) sea salt
400 ml coconut milk
150 ml water
1 egg
5 ml (1 tsp) coconut or sunflower oil
How to make it:
Sift flour, turmeric powder, and salt into a big bowl.
Whisk in remaining wet ingredients till you get a smooth batter. Add a little more water if consistency is too thick.
Pour batter into mould or bottle with 3 small holes poked into bottle cap.
Heat a flat, non-stick pan to medium-high heat (my flat pan is no longer non-stick, so I used a curving one, which is not ideal). Grease pan with butter or ghee.
Turn the Batter Bottle over the pan and make circular rounds around pan to form net-like patterns.
When top is set or when bottom starts to turn light brown, fold Roti Jala into triangles or rolls and transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel.
Serve at least 3 Roti Jala on a plate with a small bowl of curry chicken on the side.
Authenticity Test: Yummy or Crummy?
Thanks to my beginner skills and my sloping pan, my Roti Jala lacey patterns spread out too much before setting, so the ribbons were far TOO FAT to be authentic.
Fortunately, I still managed to snag about 70% percent of the texture that makes Roti Jala so awesome, and the taste was like what I remember. :) So I will be making my recipe many times over till I get better at it! :) Or I will just season my sticky flat-pan according to the instructions that 
Thanks for reading my post! If you liked what you read, there's more! Click on the pictures below to see my previous posts in the SHIOK SHIOK series:
°--°--°--°--°--°--°--°--°--°
°--°--°--°--°--°--°--°--°--°
°--°--°--°--°--°--°--°--°--°
°--°--°--°--°--°--°--°--°--°
Your support is a great encouragement to me. Here's a big THANK YOU from me! <3