Roti John

A Singapore hawker stall dish

• CuisineMalaysian
• CategoryLamb
• CourseMain

Ingredients

• 150 gmsLamb mince
• 1 tspMutton curry powder
• 2Eggs
• 50 gmsOnion, chopped
• 2Green chillies, sliced
• 1Baguette
• 1 tbspChilli mayo
• 1 tbspTomato ketchup
• Oil
• Salt
• Pepper

Preparation

1. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan and fry mince till no longer pink
2. Add mutton curry powder, salt, fry for 5 minutes andremove
3. Beat eggs, add chopped onion and chillies with salt and pepper
4. Pour on hot, oiled pan and lightly cook one side
5. Spread cooked mince on the uncooked egg
6. Cut baguette in half and place on top
7. Once cooked through, spray top of baguette with oil, turn over and fry
8. Remove from pan, drizzle chilli mayo, ketchup and fold

There are a number of apocryphal stories about the origins of the name for this dish. But a common thread is that the bread is a western version of the ubiquitous Malaysian roti. At its simplest, it is an omlette sandwich. On a recent trip to Singapore, I had a chance to try it out, inspiring this attempt at making it at home. That said, it was a bit hard to track down. There are not many places that serve it. And, by the way, I found it (or Danny, my food guide did) at the Geylang Serai markets. On a subsequent trip, I also tracked a shop in Haig Road Market. RK Eating house does one too but I skipped it in favour of the house special prata.

The steps are pretty strightforward. The omlette in Singapore (and India) is quite different. It does not have a stuffing - the ingredients are mixed into the egg and poured on to a pan. So the egg mixture for Roti John is along those lines.

Did I say all ingredients are mixed in? Not all! Once the egg is poured and the underside has cooked a bit, the mince is spread on.

The baguette is halved and pressed on. Some of the uncooked egg gets absorbed by the bread and it fuses when cooked though. Tuck in the stray edges of teh egg underneath.

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Then take it off the pan and slather on the chilli mayo and ketchup. In hawker stalls, it is often served in a sea of red sauce. This is a tamer version.

Then just fold it and serve. It is often sliced into smaller pieces.

As with all dishes half way between a meal and a snack, this is often served for breakfast AND lunch.