Clap Roti

Ok, it's not really called Clap Roti, that's a nick name like Buss Up Shut!  I never questioned the meaning of the nick name but it eventually became obvious to me, perhaps when I got a deeper understanding of the Trinidadian accent LOL.

Story behind Clap Roti is the immediate abuse you put on the roti the minute it comes off the Tawah (popular round griddle), or out of the frying pan.  Buss Up Shut is in reference to what the roti looks like when it reached your plate, a shredded t-shirt..., or a busted up shirt.  If you don't have the proper Trini genes or affiliation you may not be able to put the right sing-song stank on the buss up shut to get it to sound quite right, so for you we'll call this clap roti.

Although most of the roti I've experienced has been from Trinidadian restaurants and Guyanese relatives around Brooklyn I actually got this recipe from my What's Cooking in Guyana cookbook.

I was challenged to try to make Dahlpuri (the one with the peas), but I figured I should crawl before i walk and this is much less complicated.  

Disclaimer: This recipe does NOT offer measurements for most ingredients so you kinda have to feel your way around the dough.  Also, The recipe suggests using Ghee which I wasn't motivated to make so I settled for the other option good old Butter or Margarine, but next time I will use Crisco for a lighter texture.

I started with 4 oz. of all purpose flour and 2 oz. of butter, cut the two together until mealy

Then I added just enough water to get it to stick together but not sticky.

At this point the dough sat uncovered for 10 minutes.

The recipe got tricky to me at this point, probably because I was getting hungry and impatient so I'll just tell you how I improvised.

After the 10 minutes I cut the dough into four sections,

On a floured surface I rolled each piece out and evenly brushed it with vegetable oil and sprinkled with flour,

Once all pieces were rolled out I folded each piece twice like a piece of cloth.

After another 10 minutes I rounded each piece out and prepared to roll it out for frying.

Heat and grease (more veg. oil) a large pan or Tawah if you have one,

I didn't stay true to the round shape of the roti, rolling out true circles is not my forte, but the flavor was all there lol

Each piece gets rolled out as thin as possible and placed over the greased pan for literally a minute at medium heat.  The first two I let cook too long and they got a little crispy, so I had to watch closely for signs of being cooked, kind of like with pancakes.

Once the first side is cooked flip it over and brush the cooked side with oil and standby for a few seconds while the second side cooks.

Once you're ready to remove it from the pan have a clean towel or two paper towels ready to "clap" the roti 

Really mush it together, it should end up really wrinkly like hot laundry left in the laundry basket, that's why it doesn't really need to be round, no one will ever know, HA!!

Part of why I overcooked the first two rotis was because I was getting my Curry Potato started.  Usually this curry has chana or chickpeas to accompany the potatoes but I'm not a fan, and we all know I love my potatoes, they're all I need.

Also you'll notice I let the gravy get really thick, which is how I like it unless its Curry Chicken  then I like a watery gravy the way Gramps used to make.

...& Voila!!

If you don't have a reference for this dish you might be happy with your first attempt, but I know mine will be better with practice.  Good luck if you're feeling brave enough to try!

Thanks for Reading!!