Roti Jala (or Roti Kirai) served with Beef Curry

Roti Jala meant literally Net Bread, is a traditional malay delicacy pancake which is normally served with any kind of curry.  To achieve the fishing net or lacy appearance, one needs to use a roti jala mould (see picture below - left).  But recently, the plastic bottle on the right was introduced to make cooking roti jala much easier and faster.

Roti Jala (or Roti Kirai)

Ingredients:
500 g flour
900 ml water

2 eggs, to be lightly beaten
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp egg yellow colouring (2 tbsp may sound a lot but actually, the colour is just nice and not too yellow)

Method:
Mix all ingredients together with a whisk until well mixed. Leave it aside for about 15 minutes.Then, run mixture through a sieve into a bowl.

Heat a crêpe pan. Once hot, brush pan with a little oil. You need to do this once only. There is no need to brush the pan after each roti jala.

By using a roti jala mould, "pour" the mixture onto the hot pan.  Cook over medium heat.

Once the roti is done i.e. there are no uncooked mixture seen, remove it to a plate with the bottom side up. Fold roti into half, then fold into 1/3 triangle. Serve with any curry and garnish serving platter as shown!

P.S. One may realize that I don't use any coconut milk in the recipe. The reason is because one don't get satiated easily. The texture of the roti is still the same when compared to a recipe where coconut milk is used.


Beef Curry (my mum's recipe)

Ingredients:
750 g lean beef, to be cut into cubes
300 g potatoes, to be peeled and halved
3 tbsp curry powder (if possible, from Adabi)
2 tbsp (heaped) tomato puree
150 g yoghurt
salt to taste

Spices to be blended:
1 big onion
2 cloves of garlic
a small bit of ginger
1 green chillie (it gives a nice aroma to the curry)

Sauté Ingredients:
3 or 4 big onions, to be finely sliced
1 clove of garlic, to be finely sliced
2 pcs cardamom (bauh pelaga)
2 pcs cloves (bunga cengkih)

Method:
Add blended ingredients and curry powder to meat and mix well. Leave aside.

Heat a little of oil in pot and lightly fry the sauté ingredients until fragrant. Add marinated meat and cook for about 5 minutes. Then, add tomato puree and cook for a further 5 minutes. Reduce heat and add yoghurt. Let it boil lightly before putting the lid on. Cook for about an hour or until the beef is tender. Lastly, add in potatoes and cook for a further 20 minutes until potatoes are cooked. Season with salt to taste. One may add tomatoes to the gravy.

Note: If gravy is too litlle, one may add some water. So far, I have not added any water at all.

Bon Appetit!