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Traditional method

Sada roti

Sada

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A Trinidad and Tobago baking-powder flatbread cooked on a hot stone, then briefly exposed to direct heat to puff.

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Original editorial photograph of plain Trinidadian sada roti with a soft interior and browned griddle marks. Illustrative rendering of the published baking-powder recipe, not a named cook’s batch.

Method and equipment

This cookbook version cooks the dough on a heated baking stone, then finishes it over exposed flame or a heat element until it balloons. The source specifies the flour, baking powder, salt and fat, but leaves the water amount to the cook and gives no stone temperature.

Sources for this section

A flour mill's card

National Flour Mills in Trinidad and Tobago publishes a sada recipe under its Lion Brand name, built around its roti and doubles flour. The card lists three cups of that flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and ghee or oil, and lukewarm water without an amount, and divides the dough into four portions for a griddle or pan.

The card does not give the flour's grain composition, and it documents one commercial formula rather than the history, household use or keeping of sada.

Sources for this section

History

The High Commission for the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in London published this recipe in its May 2019 newsletter and credits The Multi-Cultural Cuisine of Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean, an updated and revised Naparima Girls’ High School cookbook. That publication date does not establish when the food or method first appeared. The formula uses baking powder and gives no water quantity. The archive describes sada roti as an Indo-Caribbean griddled bread; this formula's stone-and-flame finish is specific to the cookbook recipe.

Ingredients

Yield 4 rotis · Scaling: source batch only

All-purpose flour
946 mL4 cup as recorded
Baking powder
20 mL4 tsp as recorded
Salt
4.9 mL1 tsp as recorded
Ghee or butter
4.9 mL1 tsp as recorded
The source lists either ghee or butter.
Water
Amount not stated
Add enough to make a firm dough; the source gives no volume.

Method

Risks and precautions · Standard risk

The source directs the cook to move a hot baking stone and expose the bread to an open flame or heat element; use heat protection and keep the bread under control while turning.

  1. Combine the flour, salt, and baking powder. Rub the ghee or butter into the flour.
  2. Add enough water to make a firm dough. Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth, about 5 minutes.
  3. Divide the dough into four pieces and shape each into a smooth ball. Cover with a damp towel and rest for 15 minutes.
  4. Heat a baking stone until hot. Roll each piece to about 1/2 inch thick.
  5. Cook a roti on the hot stone until small bubbles appear. Turn it and cook for about 4 minutes more.
  6. Using pot holders or a towel, pull the stone away from the fire to expose the open flame or heat element. Push the roti onto the exposed heat and turn it quickly so it balloons, moving it to expose the whole surface.
  7. Remove it from the heat and wrap it in towels. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Conditions

Yield4 rotis

Places

Trinidad and Tobago

Documented preparation · Country evidence

A Trinidad and Tobago source republishes the recipe from the Naparima Girls’ High School cookbook; this is a documented preparation, not a birthplace claim.

See Trinidad and Tobagoon the mapLocation source 1 →

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Sources