A Tasty Thai Holiday Tradition

When my roommate’s sister requested I bring Thai-Style Roti for Christmas dessert, I scratched my head and thought, whaa?

We were having a multi-national celebration with traditional ethnic dishes. This particular one is a standard treat during Loy Krathong, an annual holiday held to thank the water goddess and float away ill fortune.

I’ve had roti, a crispy, fried flatbread, with Indian meals, but I never heard of a sweet version. The dough for both is almost identical, but the sweet version is sprinkled with sugar and drizzled with sweetened condensed milk. The dough is made much like a pie dough, rolled in oil and formed into balls, then left to rest for about three hours. Then, each ball of dough is rolled flat and pan-fried, making a slightly puffed disk that shatters into layers of flaky pastry. I cheated and bought the frozen kind at an Asian grocery, but the result was just as good. The roti was then drizzled with a spoonful of sweetened condensed milk (we omitted the sugar). It was delicious! Here is the recipe in case you want to try it from scratch:

Thai-Style Roti
2 cups wheat flour
1/4 cup ice cold water
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon melted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
oil for rolling and frying (veggie or canola oil will do)
sugar for sprinkling
sweetened condensed milk for drizzling

1. Sift flour into large bowl. Make a well and add ice water, egg, melted butter and salt. Use your hands to incorporate mixture into dough. Knead until soft; form into balls about the size of small eggs. Roll lightly in oil; let rest three hours.
2. Roll balls of dough as thinly as possible on lightly floured surface, forming flat disks.
3. Warm frying pan at high heat; add oil to depth of 1/2 inch. Add roti, one at a time, flattening with tongs. Fry until light golden brown; turn and repeat (about 2 minutes each side). Remove roti from the pan; drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with sugar and drizzle with sweetened condensed milk.