Tastes Like Home - no longer stressful
By Cynthia Nelson
Stabroek News
April 28, 2007
Hi Everyone,
In almost every cook's life, there is one dish or one food that tests them in ways unimaginable. The preparation which seems simple and easy to those who've mastered it, is often a source of frustration and anxiety for those who've spent months and even years trying to at least make it resemble what the dish is supposed to be like.
For me, roti was that food - paratha roti or oil-roti as it is known to us Guyanese. Despite the variety of things I could already make as a child and teenager, my inability, to make a proper roti meant that I had not yet earned my cooking stripes. It was the test that I must pass. And I was determined to not just pass the test but to excel at making that elusive, ideal roti. The ideal roti meant that it should be rolled to a perfect circle and not in the shapes of the maps of the world; the ideal roti should be cooked so that it has only a few tiny brown spots that flake and crack as you clap; and I, as the ideal roti maker, should be able to clap the roti straight from the tawah to release the leafy layers that make it fluffy was also important.
The first phase of my roti-making test had to do with kneading the dough. When I first started this was the part I hated the most. I had to knead the dough not only to make it soft and pliable, but so that all the flour in the bowl would be fully incorporated. In other words, there should not be any remnants of the mixture; the bowl must be clean with just the ball of dough. I never seemed to be able to get this right no matter how hard I tried. And, like any good teacher, my mom used to inspect my work.
As I was gradually getting better, my mom would leave me alone in the kitchen to make the dough for the roti and I have to shamefully admit here that I would cheat. I would make the big ball of dough, take it out of the bowl and scrap all the remaining bits of mixture and dry flour, discard it, put the dough back into the bowl and continue to knead in my perfectly clean bowl.
Eventually, after much practice and watching my mom, aunt and cousin every opportunity I got, I was able to knead the dough incorporating all the flour and bits.
Armed with this confidence, I eagerly volunteered whenever I visited my aunt's house to help make the roti but my cousin Shantie, who was masterful at making roti in her family, did not trust me to knead the flour so I was relegated to oiling the roti (something I already did at home). This was my favourite part of the roti-making process anyway. There was no pressure to roll in particular shapes and I guess I loved this part the most because it was like playing with play-dough. All you had to do was roll the dough, rub some oil on the surface, make a cut from the center to one end of the dough, roll it to form a layered cone cup, punch down the pointed end and voila, done. Another test passed.
Still, one of the most trying times was yet to come - rolling the dough to form a perfect circle in order to cook the roti. This stage, for me, was fraught with frustration, disappointment and a feeling of inadequacy. Why could I not get the dough rolled round?! It often came out square or in shapes like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. I watched my mother, my aunt and my cousin over and over again. Sometimes I came close to getting the circle but not often enough.
In the latter part of my teenage years, I rebelled, debating with my mom the necessity of having the roti rolled round when it was going to be torn and eaten anyway; it is not like the shape of the roti would change the taste. Boy, who tell me to say that… my mother lectured me for weeks. Stage not yet passed.
I was willing to give up the whole roti-making venture at this stage but my mother was determined that I know how to make roti so we ploughed on to the next stage - actual cooking. I think she figured that I'd get the round-rolling as I continued to make roti.
The main thing about the actual cooking process was heat control. And it's really a matter of personal choice and standards set by individual families. Most of my family like the roti to have just a few tiny light-brown spots that crack and flake when you clap the roti. Others prefer the roti not to have any spots at all. I like it both ways. I passed this stage after a number of trials and errors. I always used the first roti as a sort of tester to gauge the heat. I still do.
One of the really intimidating parts of roti-making was clapping the roti. While I had watched in awe the many times that the women in my family would use their bare hands to lift the roti from the hot tawah and start clapping it mid-air, I was never enthusiastic about doing it myself. As a matter of fact, I had no desire to do that part; but alas, if I were to earn my roti-making stripes and by extension my cooking stripes, I had to learn to clap roti.
Thankfully, my mom let me use the spatula to turn the roti and to remove it from the tawah, she also gave me room to let the roti rest a few seconds before I would begin clapping. The first time I clapped a piping hot roti, I swear that my hands were going to be swollen, burnt and marked forever - they weren't. As time went by I learnt that I only had to make about three claps and that would be good enough to release the fluffy layers. I learnt the importance of not letting the roti cool before clapping it - the air trapped in the roti would dissipate without the layers separating.
Today, I am happy to report that yours truly has earned her full cooking stripes from the family, especially my roti-making stripes. As I stated above, I have mastered the art of kneading the dough with the bowl being clean and void of any remnants (without cheating). Oiling the roti is still my favourite part of the process; and rolling the dough to make a perfect circle - why, I won't have it any other way, thanks to my continuous practice. The trick is to make a round disk of the dough before rolling it, flouring the rolling surface really well and turning the dough at 90-degree angles only and flipping it over also.
So adept have I become at making roti I have even started teaching a Bajan friend of mine how to make it. We'll see how she passes the tests.
For my step-by-step roti-making process, visit the blog.
Cynthia