My Roti Canai Journey

<center>My Roti Canai Journey</center> <left>Where It All Began</left> At one stage of my childhood life. I have always wanted to open my very own 'mamak' store. A 'mamak' store has a fusion of Indian and Muslim cuisine (Yoshino, 2010). Here is where my dream dish lies and that is Roti Canai. <img src="http://images.says.com/uploads/story_source/source_image/292032/d103.jpg" width="500" height="300" align="center"> I was obsess with it, Everyday I would at least eat it once. On DIGC330 I had to do a final project. I knew I wanted to do something about recreating a dish but was not quite sure what too cook. Being a little far away from home (Malaysia) I was hit with nostalgia and memories of this long forgotten dream. That is when I knew, this is my dish for the project. [[Ellis explained that autoethnography]] allows you to remember moments in our life that you remember as significant. Although the dream of owning a ‘mamak’ is no longer there, it was once my dream. In a way I became bias towards this dish because I remember how it was once a goal in life. This project allowed me to relive a dream that never came true. From this project not only did I manage to recreate the dish but I was also able to discover more on the dish. Below are 4 different links that can take you on a journey of my discovery. If you have not watched my master piece dish. I highly recommend you click on the first link before moving on. <img src="http://img.sndimg.com/food/image/upload/w_614,h_461,c_fit/v1/img/recipes/27/07/23/pic7FnT82.jpg" width="100" height="100" align="middle"> [[My Roit Canai and Review]] <img src="http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/23/6b/500px-History_Channel_logo.svg__1.jpg?itok=PWj5_cec" width="100" height="100" align="middle"> [[History]] <img src="https://ows.edb.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/users/kan427/GlobeForWeb.jpg" width="100" height="100" align="middle"> [[Culture]] <img src="http://cliparts.co/cliparts/8ix/KqB/8ixKqB54T.jpg" width="100" height="100" align="middle"> [[Health]]

How did this dish came about was my first question. Followed by what does "Roti Canai" even mean. <img src="http://img.21food.com/20110609/product/1306493618151.jpg" align="center"> For starters roti canai is also known as roti paratha, a south-indian flat bread dish.The word roti means ‘bread’ and paratha meaning ‘flat’ (Yoursingapore.com, 2015). <img src="http://www.adventureworldindia.com/images/chennai.jpg" align="center"> Then what does roti canai mean? In some opinion the canai is actually a symbolic meaning of the word ‘Chennai’ which is the name of the city Madras in India. In other words bread from Chennai (Tripadvisor.com.au, 2015). Another name I found interesting was that roti canai is also called ‘flying bread’ and I can see why it is called that (NBC News, 2014). With my experience of making roti canai, when you flip the bread up it actually does look like a flying bread. I began searching up a bit more on the origins of roti canai and I believe that Hinduism (Kittler 2004) may have played an important role in creating this dish. According to Kittlers <a href="https://www.cengagebrain.com.au/content/9781133784425.pdf">"Food And Culture"</a>, Many Hindus are vegetarian as they believe in the concept of ahimsa. This model introduces how one should avoid hurting animals by not eating meat (Kittler 2004). Roti canai does not contain any meat, true they have different varieties of roti canai but neither one of it has meat in it. It is highly possible that Hinduism may have actually started the spark of this simple yet wonderful dish. <img src="http://geocurrents.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Malaysia-states-map.png" width="750" height="350" align="center"> Since the dish originated in India, how did it get to Malaysia? After the British had control of the Malay Peninsula, before the country was known as Malaysia in 1965 (nationsonline.org, 2015). More labourers from India began to come in to the Peninsula. It was due to this shift of cultural diversity that Indian cuisine became “Malaysianized” (Yoshino, 2010). So how did a dish like this become so popular in Malaysia? You can countinue exploring here: <img src="https://ows.edb.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/users/kan427/GlobeForWeb.jpg" width="100" height="100" align="middle"> [[Culture]] <img src="http://cliparts.co/cliparts/8ix/KqB/8ixKqB54T.jpg" width="100" height="100" align="middle"> [[Health]] <img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1832714511/TAW_twitter_logo.png" width="100" height="100" align="middle"> [[Conclusion]]

[[Ellis explained that autoethnography]], it is through our understanding of our experience of the culture to be able to make sense of it. <img src="http://www.edmdroid.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/malaysia-nightlife.jpg" width="500" height="300" align="center"> From my experience as a Malaysian, one of the contribution of making this dish so popular is because of the Nightlife in Malaysia (Virtual Tourist, 2015). Malaysia is full of activities at night. It ranges from clubs, pubs, computer café, and even karaoke. The difference is that all these activities are open till 3 am in the morning. <img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/23/90162877_c89d38412f_z.jpg?zz=1" width="400" height="500" align="center"> Even after these activities we do not sleep because we are hungry. During this time the shops that are open to feed our hunger are ‘mamaks’ stores that has a fusion of Indian and Muslim cuisine (Yoshino, 2010), and in these shops awaits the ever so tasty roti canai. Another reason why roti canai is so popular in Malaysia is how affordable and tasty it is. One roti canai cost RM1.20, converted to Australian dollars it would be $0.32 (Xe.com, 2015). People will always have the buying power to get this simple dish. Not only that but this dish always comes with curry to help enhance the flavor even more. Lastly but not least one of the most important reason on why it is so popular is because we have been brought up in a munching lifestyle. Roti canai is not limited to just breakfast but it can be eaten anytime of the day. We have it for breakfast, we have it for lunch, we have it for dinner, and we can even have it for supper. The culture we have been raised is an eating and meeting up culture. If we are going to meet up and hang out chances are we will meet up at a mamak. Also mamaks are everywhere and most are 24 hours making it very convenient. You can countinue exploring here: <img src="http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/23/6b/500px-History_Channel_logo.svg__1.jpg?itok=PWj5_cec" width="100" height="100" align="middle"> [[History]] <img src="http://cliparts.co/cliparts/8ix/KqB/8ixKqB54T.jpg" width="100" height="100" align="middle"> [[Health]] <img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1832714511/TAW_twitter_logo.png" width="100" height="100" align="middle"> [[Conclusion]]

After going through all that history and culture, the next question that came into my head was if roti canai was healthy. The ingredients used to make roti canai consist of plain flour, condensed milk, salt, vegetable oil, water and margarine (Ng, 2015). After my experience making this dish I know that this dish should not be eaten too often. Simply because the amount of oil use to make the dish was overwhelming. Not only did I add oil in the mixture, more oil was added when I had to flip and stretch the dough. I even had to coat the dough with margarine as well. In other words lots of unhealthy elements are in this dish. <img src="http://cdn.healthworks.my/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/How-Much-Fat-is-In-Your-Roti-Canai-Mamak-Infographic.png?zz=1" width="600" height="1800" align="center"> The recommended amount of daily fat intake a person should take according to Recommended Nutrients Intake for Malaysia is 34-50ml of fat (Foo, 2014). Roti canai has 10ml of fat and has around 301 calories. This dish itself would have filled up one third of the recommended fat intake in a day. 301 calories is similar to eating a cheese burger in McDonalds (Calorieking.com, 2015). From this finding it is no surprise that Malaysia was ranked most obese in South East Asia back in 2014 (Gan, 2014). You can countinue exploring here: <img src="http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/23/6b/500px-History_Channel_logo.svg__1.jpg?itok=PWj5_cec" width="100" height="100" align="middle"> [[History]] <img src="https://ows.edb.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/users/kan427/GlobeForWeb.jpg" width="100" height="100" align="middle"> [[Culture]] <img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1832714511/TAW_twitter_logo.png" width="100" height="100" align="middle"> [[Conclusion]]

This link takes you to my blog where I do a step by step video on how to make this dish. You can try making it too! Also I explained my experience on making the dish. It may look simple but it does require some technique. <a href="https://thechangeiscoming.wordpress.com/2015/09/16/my-roti-canai-experience">My Roti Canai Experience</a>

<img src="http://vertassets.blob.core.windows.net/image/20522ad6/20522ad6-ba15-4bd0-93c9-a19100c01eec/multitasking.jpg" width="450" height="300" align="center"> As a conclusion the experience of making roti canai to exploring the origins of the dish was amazing. To rediscover the culture of Malaysia and realize the unhealthy habit we have for roti canai is refreshing. Finally to be able to relive a childhood dream has been enlightening. This research is only the beginning, there are so many different paths that can be taken in order to unpack it even further. Limitation is none existent when it comes to autoethnography. As long as there is another aspect you want to look in your experience, its endless. <img src="http://eslblogcafe.com/sjc/josey30117/files/2015/06/keep-calm-and-thanks-for-reading-9.png" width="450" height="300" align="center"> These are my [[references]] for my work

<left>Autoethnography</left> Autoethnography explained by Ellis (2010) is a different kind of research methodology. Where the researcher analyzes their own personal experience with the culture and try to understand it from that experience. Memories are impacting towards a persons life. As it is what allows us to remember both good and bad attributes that we might have faced in our lives. "Epiphanies" are moments perceived to have a strong effect towards a person's life. Autoethnography uses thoes epiphanies to analyze what the expereince was and make sense of it. In my case Roti Canai was my good memory. It had an impact on me as I once wanted to open a shop and sell this dish. The next few steps are simple, autoethnography is not limited to one answer. It just keeps unpacking, the more you analyze what you had experience. The more research you will doin order to justify why you had expericed it that way. There is a lot more towards autoethnography so if you are interested in learning more about it. Here is a link which helps outline it <a href="http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1589/3095">Autoethnography Overview</a> You can countinue exploring here: <img src="http://images.says.com/uploads/story_source/source_image/292032/d103.jpg" width="100" height="100" align="middle"> [[Where It All Began]] <img src="http://img.sndimg.com/food/image/upload/w_614,h_461,c_fit/v1/img/recipes/27/07/23/pic7FnT82.jpg" width="100" height="100" align="middle"> [[My Roit Canai and Review]] <img src="http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/23/6b/500px-History_Channel_logo.svg__1.jpg?itok=PWj5_cec" width="100" height="100" align="middle"> [[History]] <img src="https://ows.edb.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/users/kan427/GlobeForWeb.jpg" width="100" height="100" align="middle"> [[Culture]] <img src="http://cliparts.co/cliparts/8ix/KqB/8ixKqB54T.jpg" width="100" height="100" align="middle"> [[Health]] <img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1832714511/TAW_twitter_logo.png" width="100" height="100" align="middle"> [[Conclusion]]

Calorieking.com 2015, Calories in McDonald's Cheeseburger | Nutrition, Carbohydrate and Calorie Counter, viewed on September 24, 2015 <http://www.calorieking.com/foods/calories-in-sandwiches-burgers-cheeseburger_f-ZmlkPTEwMDk0Ng.html> Ellis, C., Adams, T. and Bochner, A. (2010). Autoethnography: An Overview. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 12(1), viewed on September 24, 2015. Foo, J. 2014, Infographic: How Much Fat is in Your Roti Canai? (Calories & Fat Content of Rotis at the Mamak Stall) | HealthWorks Malaysia. HealthWorks Malaysia, viewed on September 24, 2015 <http://www.healthworks.my/infographic-fat-mamak-stall/> Gan, R. (2014). Malaysians: Most Obese in South East Asia. Are You One of Them? Find Out Here. HealthWorks Malaysia, viewed on September 24, 2015 <http://www.healthworks.my/malaysians-most-obese/> Kittler, P, & Sucher, K 2004, Food And Culture, n.p.: Belmont, CA : Thomson/Wadsworth, c2004., UOW Catalogue, EBSCOhost, viewed 24 September 2015. Ng, I 2015, My Roti Canai Experience. the change is coming , viewed on September 24, <2015https://thechangeiscoming.wordpress.com/2015/09/16/my-roti-canai-experience/> NBC News 2014, viewed on September 24, 2015 <http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/your-new-sunday-morning-breakfast-malaysian-flying-bread-n188586> Nationsonline.org, k. 2015, Malaysia - Country Profile - Federation of Malaysia. Nationsonline.org, viewed on September 24, 2015 <http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/malaysia.htm> Tripadvisor.com.au 2015, Kuala Lumpur: Roti Canai - TripAdvisor. viewed on September 24, 2015 <http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Travel-g298570-c89624/Kuala-Lumpur:Malaysia:Roti.Canai.html> Tripadvisor.com 2015, Malaysia: Culture – TripAdvisor, viewed on September 24, 2015 <http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g293951-s202/Malaysia:Culture.html> Virtual Tourist 2015, Malaysia Nightlife, viewed on September 24, 2015 <http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Asia/Malaysia/Nightlife-Malaysia-TG-C-1.html> Xe.com 2015, XE: (MYR/AUD) Malaysian Ringgit to Australian Dollar Rate, viewed on September 24, 2015, <http://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?From=MYR&To=AUD> Yoshino, Kosaku. "Malaysian cuisine: A case of neglected culinary globalization." Globalization, Food, and Social Identities in the Asia Pacific Region. Tokyo: Sophia University Institute of Comparative Cu (2010). Yoursingapore.com 2015, Roti Prata. , viewed on September 24, <http://www.yoursingapore.com/en_au/dining-drinks-singapore/local-dishes/roti-prata.html>