Trinidadian · Bread
Dhalpuri Roti
- Advanced
- 50 min
- roughly 2 of 4 for cost
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
Leads with an earthy, grounding base, aromatics blooming from the first bite, fading in warm spice.
Ingredients
- 250g yellow split peas (dhal), picked over
- 4 cloves garlic, 2 left whole and 2 crushed
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 2 tsp roasted ground geera (cumin)
- 1 tsp fine salt, for the filling
- 500g all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1.5 tsp fine salt, for the dough
- 320ml warm water
- 60ml neutral oil
Equipment
Sheet pan · Rolling pin
The skills inside
Steaming: basket, leaf and lid
Allergen screen
Found: gluten
Screened for: gluten, dairy, egg, nuts, peanuts, fish, shellfish, molluscs, soy, sesame, celery, mustard, lupin, alcohol. Not screened: sulphites.
Screened by keyword from the ingredient list, not reviewed by a person; check every label for what the list cannot show.
Method
- Boil the split peas with the whole garlic and the turmeric until a pea crushes between finger and thumb but still holds its shape, about 20 minutes; take them further and the filling turns to paste. 20 min
- Drain hard, spread on a tray and let them steam dry for 10 minutes, then grind with the crushed garlic, geera and salt to a dry, sandy powder that will not hold a shape when squeezed in the fist. 10 min
- Meanwhile knead the flour, baking powder, salt and water to a soft dough, work the oil through it, cover and rest 30 minutes. 30 min
- Divide into 5. Cup each piece in your palm, spoon in 3 heaped tablespoons of the ground dhal, gather the edges over the top and pinch them shut; rest the filled balls seam down for 20 minutes. 20 min
- Roll out to about 28cm with light even pressure, giving the roti a quarter turn each stroke so the filling spreads with the skin rather than punching through it.
- Cook on a medium tawa for 90 seconds a side, oiling each face, until pale gold with brown freckles and the roti puffs; stack them in a cloth so they steam soft.
How to tell it is going right
This dish has no standard of its own yet. It is judged on the technique it exercises: checked at the pan, while there is still something to be done about it.
Steaming: basket, leaf and lid 130 recipes
- Steam was running before the food went in: the water at a rolling boil and vapour coming steadily through the basket, rather than the whole thing warming up together.
- Nothing touches the water at any point: the food sits clear of it throughout, and the level neither drops enough to boil dry nor rises enough to wet it.
- The lid stayed on. Every lift costs the chamber its heat, and the number of lifts should be as close to none as the dish allows.
- Lifted out, the surface is glossy and plump with its colour heightened rather than dulled: greens brighter than they went in, not olive.
- Cooked through with the shape intact: it yields at the centre without having slumped or split, and there is no more than a spoonful of clean condensate beneath it.
Where it goes wrong The lid was loose or dripping and the condensate fell back onto the food, so it arrives waterlogged and pale with its seasoning washed down into the bottom of the dish.
At the Table
- The Pour
- Grüner Veltliner
- Also Right
- Vermentino or dry Chenin
- From the Taps
- Saison
- Zero-Proof
- Sparkling water with citrus & herbs
The vegetable whisperers: peppery, high-acid whites that flatter greens, roots, and grains without bullying them.
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