Skip to Content
Fresh-Coconut Pol Roti

Fresh-Coconut Pol Roti

Fresh coconut, a hot pan and supper sorted
Author:
Austin Welsh-Graham
| Source:
The Toasty Book of Bread
Categories: The Toasty Book of Bread Bread Form Leavening Cooking Method Regional Route Collection Main Material
Tags: Flatbread No fermented rise Pan-cooked South and Central Asia The Toasty Book of Bread Wheat
Ingredients
330 g Plain white wheat flour (Plain flour.)250 g Fresh grated coconut (Or thawed frozen.)130 g Water (Initially.)40 g Water (Extra if needed.)50 g Red onion (Finely chopped.)5 g Green chilli (Optional.)2 g Curry leaves (Optional.)6 g Fine salt10 g Coconut oil (Approximate.)
Description

Break pol roti and grated coconut appears throughout the piece. It gives the bread a tender, irregular body, while the shreds at the surface meet the pan and toast. Onion and chilli can join it, making the plain-looking round fragrant before the first mouthful.

Fresh-coconut pol roti with onion and optional aromatics, rested briefly and cooked on a steady pan. Makes 8 rounds, about 100 g dough each.

Recipe
Mixing and kneading
1
Mix coconut, onion, optional aromatics and salt. Add flour, then water gradually to make a cohesive, non-sticky dough. Work gently for about 2 minutes. Cover and rest 20 minutes.
Shaping and layering
1
Divide into eight. Flatten on a lightly oiled board to 12-13 cm rounds, about 6 mm thick. Keep the remaining dough covered.
Cooking
1
Heat the pan over medium heat. Cook each round about 3–4 minutes per face, turning as needed, until spotted brown and cooked through. Adjust heat if the outside darkens too quickly.
Cooling and serving
1
Cut the first bread to check the centre has no raw flour paste. Cook a little longer if needed. Serve warm with curry or a condiment.
Notes

About 1 hour. Bowl, lightly oiled board, heavy pan or tawa and spatula. Contains wheat. Use unsweetened grated coconut, not coconut flour.

Fresh coconut matters

Dry coconut takes up more liquid. The fresh-coconut quantity here cannot be exchanged gram for gram with desiccated coconut. A dedicated dry-coconut version remains a separate trial.