It takes great skills to make roti canai. Read on this entertaining story
by my guest writer below.
Wrestling with Roti
By Yusuf Martin
The bronzed, slightly muscular young Indian man stood wearing nothing but
his newly laundered white doti in the golden half-light of the wooden
lean-to, shafts of whitening light piercing the golden ambience of the
room’s interior to reveal the glistening moistness of the Indian’s arms and
upper torso.
The true secrets of how to make roti canai
Roti Canai
Two early teen girls peered through enlarged cracks in the lean-to’s wooden
wall to spy on the young man. Next door Pa Yusop’s kampung corner shop was
beginning to open so the girls new that their time was limited, but they
were nevertheless glued to the spy-hole and to the performance therein.
Amir breathed a little more deeply, flexed his arm muscles and plunged his
strong brown hands deep into the resisting dough, pulling and stretching the
dough as hard and as long as he could, he pummeled the dough with his
practised energetic fists, elbowed the dough with swift strong killer-blow
motions, twisted and mangled the dough until he once more sought to take
breath. Standing strong like a warrior on the field of battle, Amir was
conscious of his prowess and his skills and like a warrior was scenting the
enemy’s defeat.
Teh Tarik, Indian styled milk tea
The two girls outside watched every move as if transfixed. Every blow was
registered and every tightening of the young man’s wet strong muscles
accounted for. The girls’ eyes were cameras recording everything they saw,
downloading the experience onto the hard-drives of their brains to retrieve
and re-play later in private.
Amir once again attacked the dough, throwing his full weight into it, this
time he was determined to win the bout by pinning one side of the dough with
his knee and further attacking it with dexterous hand chops and energetic
elbow thrusts, the gleaming sweat engendered by the exertion running down
his pronounced muscles and across his sculptural chest to flow and now
mingle with the oil of the glistening dough.
Make roti canai with finesse
Hot and glistening the young Indian stretched the dough as far as he was
able, this way and that he wrestled with the elasticity of the dough, his
firm young muscles stretched taunt and almost causing the young girls to
swoon, the panting of their breath now in accord with the panting of his
own. Thunk! Amir held the dough over his head and threw it hard onto the
strong steel surface seeking a submission or knockout. Still the dough
sprang back to shape. His martial and steel-like hands pierced the dough
once more aiming for the killer-blow, satisfied Amir patted his opponent
with hands shining like gold in the lean-to’s light, then turned and smiled
a broad smile right to the spot where the girls were watching.
The girls, embarrassed, shyly moved back from their spy-hole, a little
adrenalin coursing through their teen veins, how on earth were they to buy
the roti chanai from him now, has he seen their faces, did he know who they
were, surely their blushes would give them away. But a few minutes later the
two blushing girls were compelled to request roti canai for their father’s
breakfast, Amir looked at them, said nothing, and with a perfectly straight
face winked.
And that was how roti canai (India’s pratha) – Malaysia’s Indian unleavened
bread used to be made, it is now made hygienically to the highest of
standards, but probably lacks a little something in taste.
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