Roti Canai

Method

1. mix3 min
   by hand, shaggy
   flour + salt + sugar, then + condensed milk + beaten egg + water added in two pours — hold back the last 20 ml until the flour has taken what it wants, because flour brands vary by 10% in absorption and a dough that is too wet will never hold a thin sheet
2. knead12 min
   firm counter, no extra flour
   the mass until it stops tearing and pulls back smooth and slightly tacky — you are building the long gluten strands that the stretch will later pull to one cell thick. Under-kneaded dough tears the moment it goes translucent; there is no repair for it later
3. rest20 min
   covered, room temperature
   the kneaded dough as one lump, so the gluten relaxes enough to divide without fighting back
4. prep5 min
   room temperature
   divide into 4 balls of about 110 g, roll each tight and seam-side down, then submerge in vegetable oil in a shallow dish — the oil both stops a skin forming and slowly works into the outer layer, which is what lets the sheet slide against itself instead of gripping
5. rest240 min
   covered, room temperature, submerged in oil
   the oiled balls for at least 4 hours, overnight is better. This is the step people skip and the step that decides the dish: gluten that has not relaxed will spring back faster than your hands can move outward, and the sheet will tear at 20 cm instead of reaching 60
6. fold4 min
   oiled tabletop, one ball at a time
   press a ball flat on a slicked counter, then walk your fingertips from the centre outward until the sheet is thin enough to read through — thickened edges are fine, they become the crust. Smear with ghee, then fold the sheet into a long strip and coil the strip into a snail. Each fold traps a film of solid fat between dough layers; on the griddle that fat melts and its water flashes to steam, pushing the layers apart. That is the whole trick — no fat between layers, no flakes, just bread
7. rest10 min
   covered, coiled
   the coils so the tension from stretching releases before they are flattened, otherwise the snail unwinds unevenly and the layers weld shut
8. saute6 min
   medium, flat pan or griddle, lightly greased
   press each coil to a 15 cm disc and cook 2–3 min per side until blistered gold, adding ghee at the flip. Medium, not high: too hot and the outside sets brown before the interior steam has finished separating the layers, leaving a crisp shell over raw dough. Off the heat, clap the roti between both palms two or three times to shock the layers loose while the steam is still in them