Sri Lankan Coconut roti(pol roti, flatbread).
A rustic flatbread made up of flour, grated coconut with diced green chillies and Onions for extra texture.
Since the roti is made with flour and coconut the recipe is also vegan and vegetarian.
You’ll come across Sri Lankan roti as a street food/ tea-time snack at stationary carts or roadside restaurants.
They are served with a spicy lunumiris sandwiched between two roties with a curry, making it a very easy breakfast on the go.
At home, the ease of mixing the dough coconut and flour roti makes it an easy option for breakfast and dinner.
They have a rustic feel to it and makes a quick breakfast carb for big families and crowds.
Of all the flatbread recipes out there, you’ll find the Sri Lankan coconut roti is the easiest to make.
Once you’ve made them a few times, you can just eyeball the ingredients without the usual measurement and make them as you want.
I served the Coconut rottis with an extra milky Dhal curry and Lunumiris but you can serve practically anything, even hummus.
Just make sure to serve the pol roti warm and fresh off the stove for best results.
I know a few ladies in my family who never need a flat surface to shape the dough into perfect circles.
They make it look easy as they shape and mould the doughs into perfect disks.
Except for me of course, if you’ve been following and reading the blog you might have read about my problem with shaping any type of dough into circles.
You’ve heard about people being color blind, well let me introduce to shape blind me. Perfectly rounded disks are beyond me.
I got these done thanks to a lid I used to cut the circles off if not, these will actually be squares.
What can you serve with Pol roti?
For adults – you can serve it with a Dhal or Potato curry and Lunumiris with a good spicy chicken curry, even leftover meat curries would do. like I said earlier anything goes.
For kids– they love it with palm sugar treacle or honey. My youngest loves to dab pieces of roti with butter and Sugar just like I did at her age and still do.
Kitchen appliances and utensils needed.
A large bowl to knead the dough.
Flat surface or board to shape the roti.
A flat frying pan or tawa to make the roti.
More roti/ flatbread recipes!
How to make Sri Lankan paratha.
Sri Lankan pol roti.
(coconut roti).
Please make sure to read the recipe instructions carefully to avoid mistakes.
Ingredients
Ingredients mentioned below use standard measuring cups and spoons.
Serving size- Makes 9 small rotis that are 5 inches in diameter.
2 cups of flour
1 tsp of salt or as per needed
1 cup grated Coconut
1-2 Onion sliced
1-2 Green chillies finely sliced (optional)
1 teaspoon of red chilli flecks(optional)
1/2 cup of water
oil as needed
Method
How to make the roti dough.
Sift flour with Salt
Add the grated Coconut, Onions and finely sliced Green chillies or red chilli flecks.
Incorporate the ingredients into the flour thoroughly while mixing, season with Salt if necessary.
Gradually add water to form a sticky dough.
Continue kneading and form a soft dough that leaves the side of the bowl. this should take less than 5 minutes.
If you add too much water the dough will still be sticky even after kneading for a few minutes, if this should happen sprinkle flour over the dough and knead until you get the a dough that is smooth and doesn’t stick to the edges of the bowl or in your hands.
Apply Oil to your hands and transfer the oil to the dough.
Separate the dough into 8-10 balls.
On a lightly oiled surface, shape the dough into circles.
Too much oil on the surface on which you are forming the roti and you might not be able to get the roti off of it without the roti breaking in two if this should happen dust a bit of flour to ease the removal of the roti.
Form roti that are not too thin or else they will break.
For an efficient way to form the roti while cooking them, on your second roti, place a flat skillet or pan over medium heat.
Lightly oil the pan and place roti to cook.
While keeping an eye on the skillet you can form the other rotis.
Cook one side of the roti, 2-3 minutes and flip over to cook the other side.
Once all the roti has been cooked, serve with your favorite curry.
Sri Lankan Coconut roti(pol roti, flatbread). Sift flour with Salt Add the grated Coconut, Onions and finely sliced Green chillies or red chilli flecks. Incorporate the ingredients into the flour thoroughly while mixing, season with Salt if necessary. Gradually add water to form a sticky dough. Continue kneading and form a soft dough that leaves the side of the bowl. this should take less than 5 minutes. If you add too much water the dough will still be sticky even after kneading for a few minutes, if this should happen sprinkle flour over the dough and knead until you get the a dough that is smooth and doesn’t stick to the edges of the bowl or in your hands. Apply Oil to your hands and transfer the oil to the dough. Separate the dough into 8-10 balls. On a lightly oiled surface, shape the dough into circles. Too much oil on the surface on which you are forming the roti and you might not be able to get the roti off of it without the roti breaking in two if this should happen dust a bit of flour to ease the removal of the roti. Form roti that are not too thin or else they will break. For an efficient way to form the roti while cooking them, on your second roti, place a flat skillet or pan over medium heat. Lightly oil the pan and place roti to cook. While keeping an eye on the skillet you can form the other rotis. Cook one side of the roti, 2-3 minutes and flip over to cook the other side. Once all the roti has been cooked, serve with your favorite curry. Have you made this recipe? Please don’t forget to rate the recipe on the recipe card so other readers find it helpful and show me your recipe by tagging me #islandsmile178 on Instagram.Sri lankan pol roti(coconut roti, flatbread).
A rustic flatbread made up of flour, grated coconut with diced green chillies and Onions for extra texture.
vegan, vegetarian, Sri Lankan breakfast.Ingredients
Instructions
How to make the roti dough.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
9
Serving Size:
1
Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 217Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 335mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 4gSugar: 6gProtein: 5g
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I add a little bit of butter to the dough too.
butter works too, more the better!
Hey, which kind of flour do you use?
Hi Maurius,
you can use regular bread flour to make the pol roti.