Sada roti for weeknight dinner or weekend breakfast
On her way home from work, mom called and said, “knead the dough to make sada roti.” A quick knead and rest, and the dough would be ready to cook in less than an hour- when she got home. Of the many type of rotis, this was the easiest to make during the week. Nowadays, we freeze the loi, thaw and cook it when we want it. It saves time and is efficient.
The aroma of this roti cooking woke me up on the weekends. Once it hits the fire, I knew it was done, and also time to get out of bed. I particularly loved having it with sardines and fry aloo. On many occasions mom made it with a hot pot of dhal and that was enough for our bellies. As another option, my father loves to spread peanut butter on his sada roti and have it with a cup of tea for breakfast.
Cooking on the tawa
This flatbread is traditionally cooked on a cast iron skillet known as a tawa. The roti dough is rolled to desired thickness then placed on the hot tawa. My mom cooked the roti mostly on the edges of the tawa. It would result in a nice charred taste. The direct heat from the fire also helped the roti raise rather rapidly. If you do not own a tawa, a Lodge cast iron skillet can also work.
Using an electric stove?
If you are working with an electric stove, cook roti on tawa as directed, if it did not swell, transfer to the microwave after both sides are cooked. Alternately, you can place roti under broiler in oven for a few minutes until it swells. Leave oven door slightly open so you can keep an eye out.
A Guyanese Flatbread: Sada Roti
Try this delicious and simple to make roti. Cook it on a tawa for that roasted flavor. Serve with your favorite fish or vegetable dishes.
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour (may substitute 1 cup whole wheat flour for healthier option)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon butter or shortening
- 1 ¼ cups water (add more if needed)
- oil to rub on top of dough ball
Alternate Recipe - This recipe will guarantee your roti will "swell" every time due to the use of self-raising flour.
- 2 cups self-raising flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon shortening
- 1 ¼ cup water to knead
Instructions
- Sift flour with baking powder and salt.
- Mix shortening or butter into dough. Use your fingers to mix in until small crumbs form.
- Add water a little at a time and knead to form a dough ball.
- Cut dough into 4 or 5 pieces. Form into a smaller round dough ball.
- Rub a little bit of oil on a plate and also rub a little oil on the top of each dough ball and place in the plate to rest for about 20-30 minutes. Cover the dough with a damp paper towel.
- Heat a cast iron skillet, pan, or tawa to medium high heat while you start to roll our the dough.
- Flour a surface and use a rolling pin to flatten roll each dough ball to about ⅛ inch thickness. If you like a thicker sada roti, roll dough to a ¼ inch thickness.
- Place on the skillet and once you see large bubbles forming on the top, flip to cook the other side.
- Roti should swell into a ball while cooking if it doesn't, place sada roti on a plate and put into the microwave for about 10-15 seconds. This will cause the roti to swell and create a pocket in the middle. If you own a tawa, you can cook the roti on the edge of the tawa so that the fire heats the edges and allows the roti to swell.
- Serve roti hot and enjoy!
Anonymous says
I made this yesterday and we had it with baygan choka. It was so soft. I am embarrassed to say that whenever I make sada roti, it turns out hard, thats why I posted this as anonymous hehe! Thanks for the recipe, my husband was very happy 🙂
Cheryl L Owen says
Thank you for that awesome recipe, I had no wheat flour so I used all purpose and I used two tablespoons of ghee
I let it sit for one hour and they came out so soft and fluffy
Will be using this sada roti recipe for years to come
Alica says
You’re welcome, glad it came out well for you!
Ann says
If I make it using 1.5 flour, how much salt and baking powder do I add?
Alica says
Hi Ann, 1 1/2 teaspoons for 1.5 cup flour should work.
Alica says
Hi Anonymous,
Glad to hear it turned out well! If your husband liked it then you know you did a great job!!
Anonymous says
What's your name and where you from, I mean
which part. Best damn laid out recipes on the net bar none, good work, thanks.
Angelina says
Looks really good. Ever came across a stuffed sada roti recipe?
Anonymous says
I will def. try this recipe, I too have been wanting to learn how to cook traditional Guyanese food, becasue I miss my mom's cooking. Thank you again for your wonderful recipes, I look forward to more 😉
Eazy Breezy Beauty says
THank you!!!! This is great! I love making all these recipes…i'm glad to have run across this
Pocahontas says
I made this roti today and it came out really soft. This is the first time I have tried making sada roti in 10 years with great success! Thank you so much for your wonderful recipes. I will try my hand at making Salara this weekend. Keep them coming!
Jenn Kiza says
any chance of adding metric or imperial measures? What is 'cups' measurement? can i use any cup?
Alica says
Use dry measuring cups- http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/images/dry_measuring_cups.jpg
You can weigh the ingredients, but I typically don't since you don't need very precise measurements to make roti, but for reference 1 cup of all purpose flour is anywhere from 120-123grams. Hope this helps.
Devika says
My mom use to roll the dough for me when I visited her and then I would just come home and roll it out, but yesterday I tried this recipe and it was so fast and easy! I still have to work on my technique (I rolled it too thin), but will definitely be making this again. Thank you for sharing! I feel like i'm 10 years old again cooking with my mom when I try your recipes.
F De Santos says
Nice blog! It is exciting to see that you are blogging about our Guyanese food (I am not disciplined enough to do it).
I wanted to share two things:
1. My grandmother used to finish up the roti by rolling the edges over the open flame. I loved when this was done because it gave a more rustic appearance and flavor, and helped to cook the dough when the sada roti is thicker.
2. I was comparing Indo-Guyanese and Indian food with a colleague from Mumbai last week, and mentioned sada roti. He said that "sada" means "general/generic/everyday". It made perfect sense for why this particular roti/bread would be called "sada" because it is the quickest and least labor-intensive variation.
pjbakki says
I like your recipe and will try it soon. However when I make mine I add margarine or cisco to make it soft and roll it out twice. R u saying I don't need to do this? Btw just mixed my pholourie and waiting for it to rise.
Darcel Seales says
Its been an hour and the dough hasn't risen yet help
Amelia H says
The dough doesn't have to rise, Darcel. It'll spread out a bit and be softer, that's all. We only want it to rise up a little when it's cooking and if it doesn't, that's when you pop it into the microwave. Good luck!
pjbakki says
Yep
Samantha Yusaf says
How about adding yeast, I notice my mom does that..? Also, add flax seed for a healthy version.
NB says
Best roti recipe ever! Very forgiving. First I made sada roti, next day to the same recipe I added carom seeds and made methi roti and the day after I added a cup of sugar with cardomom seeds to the same recipe and made sweet roti. The results were the bee’s knees!! Thanks!!
Shonny says
Hi, 1st time following this recipe. I used all whole wheat flour and split the 1 tablespoon of shortening with butter-came out good! Ate it with curried pumkin stew?
Thanks
Sharon says
I tried this recipe minus the shortening. It came out amazing still. I can hardly wait to have it with my dhall later.
Naudia says
Hi Alicia,
Is there a substitute for using the shortening in this recipe? I don’t have any on hand and would like to make this for dinner tonight to go along with some fried pumpkin, aloo choka and dhal. Can I use margarine instead?
Alica says
Hi, you can use unsalted butter, margarine (although it has a higher water content), or even oil (drizzle straight into the flour). Hope that helps! Enjoy.