Thai Roti with Banana, Condensed Milk and Egg

Thai-style roti is a very common street food found throughout Thailand. Vendors stretch and cook these flaky treats in alleys and markets all over the country. The crispy flatbreads are often filled with a variety of sweet or savory fillings, but are also eaten plain, as an accompaniment to savory foods such as curries and fried eggs.

This sweet version, with banana, egg, and condensed milk, is very popular and makes a great snack/dessert. The roti is filled with a mixture of banana and egg and then griddled until crispy. It is topped with a generous drizzle of condensed milk and cut into squares before serving.

The Dough

While it may seem a bit intimidating to stretch and cook such a thin flatbread, the dough is actually very easy to make and quite forgiving to work with. Plus, this recipe will make extra dough balls so you can make a few practice rotis (without the filling) while you get the hang of stretching the dough. Roti is very similar to Indian paratha or Malaysian roti canai. While making the dough is very simple, you will need to plan ahead so that the dough can rest at least 5 hours ( but overnight is better).

In Thailand, you will see vendors expertly flipping and slapping the dough in order to stretch the roti quickly and evenly. At home, there is no need for the theatrics and these flatbreads can be stretched much more easily directly on a well-oiled countertop. The trickiest part of the process may be transferring the stretched flatbread from the countertop to the pan, don’t worry, even if there are a few imperfections in the way the dough lands on the pan, your roti will still be delicious.

These roti should only be made one at a time and I highly suggest eating them soon after you cook them so they retain their crisp exterior. If you are making these for a group of family or friends, make it casual and enjoy the roti in the kitchen fresh from the griddle.

Equipment

In terms of equipment, you will need a large pan with a flat cooking surface that is about 10-12 inches in diameter. Well-seasoned cast iron or nonstick pans will be the easiest to work with, but a stainless steel pan could also work. If your pan is smaller than this, you can always decrease the size of each dough ball. As with most breads, use a kitchen scale for measuring ingredients for the most accurate results.

Thai Roti with Banana, Condensed Milk and Egg

Ian Benites

A sweet, flaky flatbread that is stuffed with banana and egg, and topped with sweetened condensed milk.

5 from 3 votes

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Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Cook Time 5 minutes mins

Resting time 5 hours hrs

Course Dessert

Servings 10 roti

Equipment

• kitchen scale
• 12 or 14 inch flat bottomed pan. Cast iron or nonstick is preferable (if your pan is smaller, you will need to make the dough balls slightly smaller, see instructions below)

Ingredients

  

Roti Dough (will yield about 10 roti, feel free to halve the recipe)

• 450 grams all-purpose flour
• 2 grams salt
• 1 egg, beaten (55 grams)
• 250 grams room temperature water
• 50 grams unsalted butter, melted
• 18 grams condensed milk (1 Tbsp)
• neutral-flavored cooking oil, as needed

Roti filling/topping (for one roti)

• 1 banana
• 1 egg (optional but recommended)
• 2-4 Tbsp sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• neutral-flavored cooking oil, as needed

Instructions

 

Roti Dough

• This dough recipe will yield about 10 roti, the ingredients for the filling are for one roti. If you want to make 10 roti you will need 10 bananas,10 eggs…etc.
• Whisk the flour and salt together in one bowl. Whisk the egg, water, condensed milk and melted butter in another bowl.
  
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.
  
• Work everything together by hand until the dough comes together and there are no bits of dry flour left. You do not need to knead the dough yet.
  
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and allow the dough to rest at room temperature for about 20 minutes.
  
• Uncover the dough and knead it in the same bowl for about 5 minutes.
  
• The dough should be nice and smooth after kneading. It should also be slightly tacky but not super sticky and wet. If the dough feels very wet, knead in some flour, a teaspoon at a time, until the dough becomes smooth and slightly tacky. Cover the bowl back up with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 15 minutes at room temperature.
  
• Turn the rested dough onto a clean countertop (not floured), and divide the dough into 10 pieces, about 80-85 grams each.***if you are using a pan that is smaller than 12 or 14 inches, I would suggest making the dough balls only about 60 grams each***
  
• Take each dough portion and roll it into a ball. They don't need to be perfect.
  
• Fill a small bowl with a few tablespoons of oil and roll each dough ball in the oil to fully coat it.
  
• Place the oiled dough balls onto a baking pan or plate and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. It is fine if the dough balls are touching a little, the oil will help keep them from sticking. Place in the refrigerator and allow to rest at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight.
  

Making the roti (for one roti)

• These ingredients and instructions are for one roti. Therefore, if you want to make 10 roti, you will need 10 bananas, 10 eggs…etc. However, I would recommend only cooking one roti at a time.
• 1 or 2 hours before cooking the roti, pull the dough balls from the refrigerator and allow them to come to room temperature while still covered in plastic wrap.
• In a small bowl, beat one egg lightly.
  
• Cut the banana into thin slices and gently mix it with the beaten egg
  
• Add a thin layer of oil to the pan and heat it slowly over low or medium low heat as you stretch the dough. The trick is to have the pan hot when you are done stretching the dough
  
• Oil a roughly 15 x 15 inch section of clean countertop with cooking oil. Make sure the counter is flat and smooth. Place one dough ball in the center of this oiled area. If the dough ball has become misshapen, try to form it back into a ball at this point.
  
• Use the palm of your hand to gently flatten the ball.
  
• The dough should feel very soft and give easily to the pressure of your hand.
  
• Keep flattening the dough using the palm of your hand until it is roughly 4-5 inches in diameter. Try your best to keep the dough round as you flatten it.
  
• Once the dough is in a roughly 4-5 inch circle, start to use your finger to press and stretch the dough against the counter. Try to keep the dough round and maintain an even thickness as you stretch.
  
• Keep gently pressing and stretching the dough until it has reached a roughly 10-12 inch diameter. The dough should be quite thin at this point.
  
• Turn the heat up to medium or medium-high and check the temperature of your pan, it should be hot and the oil should be shimmering but not so hot that the oil is smoking.
  
• Carefully lift the dough off of the countertop.
  
• Try to keep your fingers spread out as you lift the dough so that the sides of the dough don't fold over on themselves.
  
• Move the dough over to the hot pan.
  
• Lay the roti into the pan, trying to keep it from folding over on itself.
  
• The roti should lay flat in the pan but if a few edges fold over on themselves, don't sweat it. It will still taste great. The roti should start to bubble slightly as soon as it hits the pan. let the roti cook for about 15-30 seconds, or until it looks like the dough has just cooked through.
  
• Add the banana and egg mixture to the center of the roti.
  
• Once you have added the banana/egg and the dough is set enough for you to fold it, use a spatula to fold one edge toward the center. Take note of how much browning is on the bottom of the roti at this point. If the roti is already browning heavily, turn down the heat.
  
• Fold the opposite side over so that it meets the first fold in the middle.
  
• fold one of the other sides toward the center.
  
• fold the last side over so that it meets in the middle.
  
• Flip the whole roti over and add the 1/2 tbsp butter to the pan. At this point you should be paying attention to how much color the roti is getting. Adjust the temperature so that the roti can brown and get crispy without burning.
  
• Keep flipping and turning the roti in the pan so that it cooks in the butter and gets nice and crisp. Total cooking time after you add the butter should be somewhere around 2-3 minutes, but may vary a bit.
  
• Once the roti is nicely golden and crisp, remove it from the pan and place it on a cutting board.
  
• Cut the roti into squares. Six or nine pieces, your choice.
  
• Place the warm roti on a plate and top with as much condensed milk as you like. Start the whole process over to cook more roti using the rest of the dough balls.