These easy-to-make Sri Lankan flatbreads are loaded with delicious fish sambal fillings. A tasty snack to satisfy your food cravings. The Fish Roti and the Vegetable ( Marakari/Elawalu) Roties are one of Sri Lankan’s most popular street-foods.
Fish Roties can be used as a meal, snack or even as an appetizer. Go for it! These are truly great and can be had at any time of the day.
The fish roti we get from here does not come close to what I remember having back home. I decided to make them myself one day… don’t ask about the details. All I can say for now is that It didn’t go all that well.
The sambal was delicious!
At least that came out great but the roti..well. not so much. That’s because I have a love/hate thing for preparing roti from scratch.
It doesn’t always work well for me because I hate the sticky feeling when kneading the dough with hand. However, this flatbread recipe is so worth the trouble. All you need is… a few most essential ingredients and If you got a kitchen aid mixture it gets even better.
HOW IT’S MADE
There are 4 stages in making this tasty fish roti.
- Prepping the flatbread
- Making the sambal
- Shaping to a triangle
- Cooking all sides and corners
Flatbread
The roties are made using the most basic ingredients like flour, water, and salt. Oil is added as we make the dough. Once the dough is made, we add a little more oil to let it sit. This process will help loosen and soften the dough, making it much easier to roll and shape.
Sambal
Fish sambal is a famous filling to use on this roti. The filling is made with onions, green leeks, canned fish, ginger, garlic, and a few needed spices, to bring a rich flavour to match the roti.
These roties are not always made with fish sambal.
If you wish, you can make the most popular kind – vegetable roti. But for some, instead of the fish or veggie, they’d prefer the beef/chicken/or lamb sambal inside. I’d love to try something new like using ground meat and cheese as its fillings. Maybe on my next one.
Make your own signature style.
Play with the ingredients.
Make new flavours.
Shaping
Once the sambal is made and the dough is ready, shaping comes next. My go-to shape for fish roti is the triangle shape.
So when rolling the dough flat, I always make sure to keep the middle of the dough thicker than the edges of the dough. This way when you place the sambal in the center and fold the edges it won’t overlap to a thick mush. If it turns out too thick when folding, the dough will not cook evenly through, resulting in raw dough inside.
Besides the popular triangle shape, you may try the square or rectangular shape. Read my other post on how you can create other shapes besides the triangle. No matter what shape it is, note that we’d have to cook all sides well before serving.
Cooking
When cooking the fish roti, you must cook all sides. Both flat sides first then cook evenly on all around the edges as well.
The reason behind my go-to triangle shape is because it’s one less side to cook compared to the square or the rectangular shape 😉 Yes! I do get lazy sometimes.
But if you’d like to try other shapes besides the triangle. Check out my 10 other shapes – it includes step by step image instructions to make different shapes besides the triangle, take a look 👉🏻 HERE!
Fish Roti – Sri Lankan Fish Flatbread Recipe
Fish Roti is a flatbread with fish sambals inside. The sambal can be anything from meats, eggs, healthy vegetables to even cheese. This Srilankan recipe can definitely help you satisfy your food cravings. Recipe inside.
Ingredients
Dough ingredients
- 1 ½ cups All-purpose flour
- ½ tsp Salt as needed
- 1/2 – 1/3 cups Lukewarm water
- 3 tbs Olive oil or cooking oil
Sambal ingredients
- 1 tbs Olive oil or cooking oil
- few Curry leaves chopped
- ½ tsp Ginger minced
- 1 Garlic minced
- 1 cup Onions thinly cut
- 1 ½ cups Green leaks thinly cut
- ½ cup Tomatoes diced
- 1/2 tsp Salt or as needed
- 1 Green chili
- 1/2 tsp Chili flakes
- ½ tsp Turmeric powder
- ½ tsp Black pepper powder
- ½ tsp Chili powder optional
- 1 can Chunk Light Tuna drained
- 2-3 medium-size Potatoes boiled, peeled, cut large
Instructions
Step 1 – Prepping the dough
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Use your hands or a kitchen aid mixer to knead the dough. Begin by combining the flour, salt, and 1 tbsp of oil. Mix while adding water in small amount, until it forms into a smooth dough.
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As it kneads, add another 1/2 tablespoon of oil and combine well. When done, the dough should be slightly sticky due to the oil.
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Next, divide the dough into small portions. Shape each into a tim-bit size circle and set them lined in a single layer on a plate.
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Drizzle the rest of the 1 & 1/2 tablespoon of oil over the dough balls, cover it with cling wraps then set aside for about 40m to an hour.
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NOTE – The oil will work its magic and it'll turn the dough much softer. One hour is all we need but if it stays longer that's fine too. While we are waiting for the dough we can move on to making the sambal.
Step 2 – Making the sambal
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On a medium/high heat use a deep skillet, pot or a pan to cook the sambal. Start by adding oil, curry leaves, ginger, garlic, and onions. Cook it a few minutes until the onions start to turn translucent. Then combine the green leaks, tomatoes, salt, green chilli, chilli flakes, turmeric powder, black pepper, and If you want a little more spice you may add the chilli powder as well. Give it a good mix and let it cook for about 3-5 minutes, stir often to avoid burning.
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While it's cooking add the fish and the potatoes. Make sure the tuna is well-drained before you add it to the sambal and the potatoes are boiled, peeled and cut as well. Once added mix carefully as to not break the fish or potatoes too much. It tastes better when it's mushy but still chunky peices at the same time. Once everything is combined well. Take off the stove and set it aside for the next step.
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NOTE – You may replace the fish with any other meat or keep it as vegetables. When I do replace with meat, I would usually deep-fry or cook the meat prior to adding to the sambal.
Step 3 – Shaping
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Now that you have both the dough and sambal done, we can move on to shaping them. Take each small circle of dough and flatten it on a rolling board. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough thin, flat to form a circle, don't have to be a perfect shape as long as its rolled flat it will work.
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NOTE – When rolling I always like to keep the middle of the dough flat but much thicker than the edges. The edges of the dough rolled much thinner. The reason behind this process is when it is time to fold the edges, it won't overlap to a thick layer. It will cook evenly and all the way through.
When the dough is rolled thick and folded to a triangle. When cooking, it may not even cook all the way through leaving the inside layers raw. With a thinly rolled edges, even though it overlaps, it will cook right through to the inside. Both the side will turn out evenly cooked when you make the small changes in rolling the dough.
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Once you have the dough rolled and ready, place the sambal in the middle and fold in 3 sides to form a triangle. You can shape it to form a square or a rectangle shape too.
Step 4 – Cooking
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Next, over medium/high heat, place a flat skillet. Place an uncooked fish rotti -the folded side facing down to cook until it turns to a shade of a light brown in colour. When done turn it to cook the other side as well. Once both sides are evenly cooked turn the roti on all around the edges to cook too. Continue the same with the rest of the rotti.
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There you go!
It's done and ready to be served. Best served with ketchup or hot sauce on the side. If you prefer any other dipping sauce, go for it and enjoy this lovely appetizer, snack, meal, whatever you want to call it.
If you really love it, please SHARE the link to this recipe with your friends and family.
P.S.
If any part of this method is confusing please feel free to ask any questions regarding this recipe using the comment section below. I’d be happy to help you through it.
All this food-talk has gotten me hungry and I can’t wait to get my hands on one of this to eat right about now.
This fish roti is heavy and very filling food to enjoy. Make extra and store them in the refrigerator for later. This way it’s easy to grab and go whether it’s for breakfast, lunch, or for dinner.
They are great for a mess-free meal to eat on-the-go. Great for picnics, road trips, beach days, or when travelling.
Make them smaller in bite-size for parties, game days, and for potluck ideas. Did you know that this can be used as house warming gifts? Place a few in a napkin covered baskets and gift it to your loved ones.
Right now, I’m off to dig into my refrigerator to snack on one. Enjoy your fish roti as well.
For more authentic Srilankan recipes like this one, take a look at our category HERE. Choose from many curries, sambals, snacks, and desserts to satisfy your food cravings.
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