Following the end of the Singtel Hawker Heroes Challenge, we thought it would be good to visit the other nominees to see if they were indeed the champion hawker of their class. Roti Prata, a name coined by Singaporeans, is basically a pan-fried flour-based pancake cooked over a flat grill. With an Indian and Pakistani origin, it is more commonly known as Paratha in the Indian subcontinent or Roti Canai in Malaysia.

Roti prata is basically dough containing copious amount of fat, flour and water. The fat is usually ghee or clarified butter. The entire mixture is then kneaded thoroughly, flattened, oiled and folded repeatedly. After which, the dough is left to rest for it to proof and rise. This process is repeated as needed and finally before serving, the dough is flipped into a large thin layer before folding the outside edges inwards. The pre-prepared dough would then be heated on the flat iron skillet and accompanying ingredients such as onions, eggs etc could then be added as per customers' orders. Some argue that the key to enjoying roti prata is to eat it with hands, without the need for utensils. The usual condiment served with a serving of roti prata would be lentil curry. Since young, I had been influenced by my parents to eat it with curry and a generous dab of white sugar - ugh, talk about diet suicide.

With that many roti prata stalls in Singapore, with plenty open 24/7 for businesses, I never really got to discover which mamuk has the best offering. With Sin Ming Roti Prata being one of the shortlisted 'Hawker Heroes', we thought it was worthwhile to pay them a visit to see how good was their dough! While many of the stalls out there use factory-made doughs, this was one of the few remaining stalls in Singapore that still prepare their own dough.


We decided to order a mix of 2 plain roti pratas and a set of coin pratas (6 pieces). The latter is actually a scaled-down version of the former. An observation of the preparation process seemed to suggest that the dough reserved for 1 normal-sized roti prata was sliced into 3 portions to make 3 small coin pratas. The standard order was for 6 coin pratas so really the dough put into it worked out to be the same as 2 plain ones. During the folding process, I notice that a large slab of that clarified butter was placed in the middle of that spread dough, allowing it to melt and flow outwards from the middle.



I was largely disappointed with my orders for the plain roti pratas for they were pre-made and the gentleman merely took 2 pieces of pre-cooked roti prata and tossed it over the heated iron skillet to pan-fry it further or rather to reheat it. I was expecting my roti prata to be made fresh since I was the only customer at that point in time. (I took the special effort to visit during non-peak period so that hopefully I could get the best tasting) The coin pratas, on the other hand, were freshly made, which later proved to have a huge discrepancy in tasting.

Plain Roti Prata

In all honesty, I was dismayed by the lack of freshness of my roti prata. Seriously, God knows how long they had been sitting in that metallic container since that last customer. I was particularly irked by the fact that the customers behind me who placed the orders for plain roti prata got to taste freshly pan-fried ones while I had to help clear the excess. All these happened right before my own eyes and I was half-expecting that they might take the onus to pile some fresh ones on my plate, but apparently quality was compromised for the sake of business.

A disgruntled customer I was but I believed that I had the rights to be so. I was tasting a mediocre dough, fluffy on the inside but limp and greased on the surface. It would have been a miraculous effort if a reheated roti prata could taste as good as a freshly pan-fried version. The flavours were pretty flat and lacked appeal in appearance as it was served luke-warm.