Roti is generally an Indian bread, made from stoneground wholemeal flour, traditionally known as atta flour, that originated and is consumed in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. It is also consumed in parts of South Africa, the southern Caribbean, particularly in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Suriname, and Fiji. Its defining characteristic is that it is unleavened. Indian naan bread, by contrast, is a yeast-leavened bread. A kulcha in Indian cuisine is a bread-like accompaniment, made of processed flour ("Maida") leavened with yeast.
Depending on where Indians settled in Guyana, foods can be different. In some parts of Guyana, Dosti Roti is made. South Asian Guyanese food as a whole can be different from their South Asian Trinidadian brothers, including the names of many items.
A small amount of fat is placed in each piece of dough before it is rolled out to make the roti softer. Usually vegetable oil is used, but butter, or margarine can also be used. Ghee is not used in everyday Guyanese cooking, and is only used by the Hindus on religious occasions. The Roti is usually clapped by hand or beaten a bit, hot off the tava, so it softens but does not break.
A good roti in Guyana is one that is very soft, with layers (almost like pastry layers if possible), which remains whole. An individual would be ridiculed if the roti breaks apart.
The type of roti one gets is determined by what is placed in the dough before it is rolled out. Various types include Dhalpuri, aloo (potato) roti, and even sugar(to keep the kids busy, while the mother finishes cooking).
Among the Indo-Guyanese, a rolled out thin flat dough like a roti that is deep fried in ghee is called a puri, and is only made for Hindu religious gatherings. Therefore a Dalpuri is not really a puri, as a puri and a roti are two different things.
Another item prepared like roti is bake or bakes or floats. A Guyanese or Trinidadian fry bake seems to be more similar to an Indian puri. Bake is made with butter or margarine and has a different ratio of flour to fat. It is made much quicker than roti and is usually made in the mornings. Dough is rolled out and cut into shapes or rolled into small rounds. Guyanese bakes or floats are fried, but bakes from other parts of the West Indies can be baked in an oven. Bake are usually paired with a quick fryup for breakfast or dinner, stewed saltfish, or eggs (western style — onions, tomatoes, green peppers). Bakes are also made in other parts of the West Indies including Trinidad, Barbados and St. Vincent.
In Suriname roti refers mainly to dhalpuri or aloopuri. It is most often eaten with curried chicken. Roti can also refer to a dish of stuffed and spiced roti wraps. It is custom to eat this dish by hand. Due to mass emigration of Indian Surinamese in the 1970s, roti became a popular take-out dish in the Netherlands. It usually includes chicken curry, potatoes, a boiled egg and various vegetables, most notably the kousenband or yardlong bean. Another variation includes shrimp and aubergine. The meat with gravy, potatoes, egg and yardlong beans are served side by side on a plate, with the aloopura folded in fours on top. One then has the option to spice the dish with a very hot chutney made of Madame Jeanette peppers.
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