Pol Roti with Lunu Miris

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ cups grated fresh or frozen coconut
• 1 tsp salt
• ¾ cup warm water
• 1 green chili, minced
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 large red onion, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp chili flakes
• 1 tsp Maldive fish flakes (optional)
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• ½ tsp black pepper

Method

1. Rub the coconut into the flour and salt with your fingertips until it looks like damp sand, then add the green chili and enough warm water to bring it together into a soft, shaggy dough. Don't knead it much — this is not a bread dough.
2. Rest 15 minutes, then divide into six and pat each into a ½-inch-thick round with your palms, flouring lightly. Rolling pins tear it; hands don't.
3. For the lunu miris, pound the red onion, chili flakes, Maldive fish, salt, and pepper into a coarse red paste, then loosen with the lime juice.
4. Cook the rotis in a dry hot pan for 3–4 minutes a side until brown-spotted and slightly puffed, brushing with a little coconut oil at the end.
5. Serve hot with the lunu miris and, if you're doing it properly, a cup of very sweet tea.