Pol Roti, or coconut flatbread is a very popular breakfast food in Srilanka. It is usually made with all-purpose flour, to which coconut is added and made into a dough. Thick, round chapatis are rolled out and cooked in a skillet.
Though plain flour is predominantly used, wheat flour, rice flour, and wheat flour with Finger millet flour can all be used. I tried it out with our usual wholewheat atta/flour, and it came out really well. It looked like a thicker version of our chapati but was so soft and delicious with a good amount of coconut flavor.
It puffed up really well, though I am not sure if it has to puff up 😀 , as none of the recipes that I came across said so. I could separate the roti into two layers like the Arabic pita bread. So next time planning to do a fusion version replacing the pita bread with this one, in Arabic cuisine 🙂 .
Coz of the coconut in this recipe, it seemed to us like the unsweetened version of our coconut poli. You can even add sliced onions and chillies for a spicy roti. But I am sticking with the plain version. This is usually served with lunumiris, which is a spicy onion + red chilly combo chutney, or with pol sambol. It can also be served with some spicy chicken curry.
Some people prefer to let the dough rest for a few hours. That is, if they plan to make it for dinner, they’ll make the dough in the morning, and rest it on the countertop. But I preferred this instant version, as I was not very confident about keeping the dough out with the coconut added.
This is my version of Pol roti. Try it and it’ll become a welcome addition to your menu.
Now to the recipe…
Pol Roti
Ingredients
- 1 cup(125g) whole wheat flour(atta)
- 1/2 cup(40g) fresh grated coconut
- 1 tsp oil
- 1/8+1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp lukewarm water
- normal water (as needed)
- oil as needed for drizzling (optional)
Instructions
- With the half cup of grated coconut add 1/8 th tsp of salt and 1 tsp of oil and mix well. Then add 1 tbsp of luke warm water and mix well sqeezing the coconut. If you have frozen coconuts thaw it and add hot water instead.
- To this add the flour, and the remaining salt. Mix well till it ressembles bread crumbs.
- Then add water as needed to make a smooth dough. I needed around 1/3 rd cup .Rest for half an hour covering with a wet cloth.
- Divide the dough into even sized balls, and flatten it out to thick circles, using a rolling pin. Dust with flour if its sticky. If you want perfect round shapes cut out round shapes from the rolled out dough using a round lid or round cutter. I preferred to keep it as is.
- Heat up a skillet and transfer the rolled out dough onto it. Flip and cook till you see golden specks on both sides. I drizzled the roti with oil, though in Srilanka they don't use oil.
- Serve with Lunumiris, Pol sambol or sonme spicy veg or non-veg gravy.
Hema’s P.S
- Instead of water, you can use coconut milk too, to make the dough.
- Oil is generally not used, though I have added. You may prefer to omit.
- The roti could be had plain, though with a spicy curry it is delish.
- Avoiding plain flour and using wheat flour makes this really healthy. You can replace with rice flour if you are looking for gluten free.
Even it was nice to have it as an evening snack. A good tasty variant of chapati.
The quickest and tastiest breakfast / supper and our all-time favourite! Tastes great with seeni sambol too!!