Coconut and onion pol roti

• porcje: Makes 10 small rotis

Składniki

1 1/2 cups plain white flour

200g freshly grated coconut

½ red onion, peeled and diced

1 green chilli, finely sliced

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp caster sugar

2 tbsp coconut or vegetable oil, plus more for greasing the work surface

1/3 cup Greek yoghurt

1/2 cup water

Wskazówki

1. Put the flour, coconut, onion, chilli, bicarbonate of soda and sugar in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add I tablespoon of oil, the yoghurt and a splash of the water. Mix well, adding the water a little bit at a time until you have a dough. If the dough is too soggy and sticks to your fingers, add more flour; if it is too dry, add a little more water. The perfect dough should roll easily into a large ball without cracking. You don't need to knead it; it just needs to be well mixed together. Portion the dough into 10 equal balls.

2. On a well-oiled surface, flatten and stretch out each ball of dough to a round shape, about 0.2in thick. You can use a rolling pin or tortilla press if you have one. I like mine about 7in or just under in diameter.

3. Oil up a frying pan with a little drizzle of oil and spread it over the base of the pan with a piece of kitchen roll. Get it over a medium heat and when hot, place a roti on the pan and cook for 2 minutes, then flip it over and let it cook through for another 2 minutes, or until it is lightly charred and has golden brown spots covering both sides. Repeat with the rest of the roti. Keep the warm cooked routs wrapped in a clean tea towel.

Notatki

I always felt like pol roti was the sort of poor relation of glorious flaky paratha (page 216) or a stuffed, crispy roti, and then one day I was driving through the jungle in Sri Lanka's 'coconut triangle' as the sun was going down. There, by the roadside, were small, soft, hot rotis, cooked over a wood fire, covered in wonderfully pungent sambol, like this Maldive fish sambol in the photo. After that, pol roti became a quick, no-knead favourite, sweetened with fresh coconut and amped up usually with green chillies and red onion, although I've also used spring onions, shallots, calçots and other delicious members of the onion family. It's not traditional, but I add yoghurt to the dough, for a slightly softer, spongier roti.