Sri Lankan Coconut Roti and lentils

Simple, soft and bready Sri Lankan flat breads with a wonderful coconut and chili flavor — perfect for serving with curries or as a snack or breakfast with chutney.

This is a daily family food of our friends from Talawakelle :) Listen our friend tell us the recipe:

  Ingredients

 2 cups unbleached spelt or all-purpose flour
 1/4 cups fresh grated coconut or unsweetened desiccated coconut
2 to 3 fresh green chilies, seeded and finely chopped
1 tablespoon coconut oil or sesame oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
2/3 cup warm water or as needed

Instructions

In a large bowl, combine the flour, coconut, chilies, oil and salt. Using your hands, work the oil into the mixture until well distributed. Gradually add water to the bowl until you have a soft dough that is not too sticky but moist enough to shape into a ball. Knead the dough in the bowl for about 3 minutes until the dough is smooth and pliable. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let sit for 1 hour or longer.

 Divide the dough into 8 pieces and shape into balls. Using the palms of your hands, press each ball into a small round that is roughly 1/4-inch thick. Keep the uncooked dough covered with the towel while you cook up batches of the roti so the dough doesn't dry out.

 Brush a cast-iron skillet or heavy non-stick skillet with a scant bit of oil and heat over medium-high heat. When hot, cook the rotis in batches until browned on both sides — about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Take care not to overcook otherwise the roti will be too hard and won't have a nice bready consistency.

Keep warm in foil while you cook the remaining rotis.


And for the lentils...

Ingredients

 • 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 1 large onion, finely sliced
• 2 dried red chilies, chopped
• 1 teaspoon shrimp paste
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 2 cups red lentils
• 4 curry leaves
• 2 cups coconut milk
 • 1cup vegetable stock, made with a cube
 • 2 inches cinnamon sticks, whole
 • 4 inches lemongrass(white part only)

In a heavy pan heat the oil and fry the onion till golden brown. Put half of the onions aside and save for garnish. Add the chillies, shrimp paste, and turmeric and cook for 2 minutes. Add the lentils, curry leaves, coconut milk, stock, cinnamon stick and lemon grass. Stir to mix all the ingredients together. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 40 mins, uncovered. Discard the cinnamon stick and lemon grass stalk. Garnish with the remaining onions and serve.