Pol roti

Name: Pol roti
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 300 g all-purpose flour; 150 g coconut, freshly grated; ½ red onion, finely chopped; 2 green chilli, finely chopped; 1 sprig curry leaves, finely chopped; 1 tsp salt; 130 ml water; 1 tbsp coconut oil

Vegetarian

පොල් රොටි · Pol roti

Rustic griddle flatbreads made from flour and lots of grated coconut, flecked with onion, green chilli and curry leaves. A favourite Sri Lankan breakfast with sambol.

Pol roti is a Sri Lankan bread, ready in about 50 minutes and made with all-purpose flour and coconut. It serves 4 and is rated easy to cook.

Start cooking

A serving of Pol roti — Photo: KavindaF / Pixabay · Pixabay Content License

Prep: 15 min
Cook: 25 min
Rest: 10 min
Total: 50 min
Serves: 4
Level: Easy
Calories: 442

Ingredients

4 servings (8 roti)

300 g All-purpose flour (opens in a new tab)Swap: Whole-wheat flour (Or half and half.)Contains wheat, gluten
150 g Coconut (opens in a new tab), freshly gratedSwap: Desiccated coconut (Soak in a little warm water first.)
½ (55 g) Red onion (opens in a new tab), finely chopped
2 (12 g) Green chilli (opens in a new tab), finely chopped
1 sprig (1 g) Curry leaves (opens in a new tab), finely chopped
1 tsp (6 g) Salt (opens in a new tab)
130 ml Water (opens in a new tab)Approximately; add gradually.
1 tbsp (14 g) Coconut oil (opens in a new tab)For the griddle.

Equipment

Griddle / tawa (opens in a new tab)

Method

1
Step 1
Mix the flour, coconut (opens in a new tab), onion, chilli, curry leaves (opens in a new tab) and salt. Add water gradually and knead into a soft, slightly sticky dough. Rest for 10 minutes.
- 8 min
How it looks · Photo: Klaus Nielsen on Pexels
2
Step 2
Divide into 8 balls. With oiled hands, pat each one out on a banana leaf or oiled sheet into a round about 1 cm thick.
- 7 min
3
Step 3
Cook on a lightly oiled griddle over medium heat for 3 minutes per side, until speckled brown and cooked through.
- 25 min
- medium heat
- Griddle / tawa (opens in a new tab)
How it looks · Photo: Muhammad Khawar Nazir on Pexels

About this dish

Origin: Sri Lanka · Well documentedMore food from Sri Lanka
Dish: Breakfast · Dinner · Breads & flatbreads
Cooking method: Pan-fried
Taste: savoury, nutty, spicy (chilli heat)
Diet: Vegan · Dairy-free · No nut ingredients
All labels
Vegan · Plant-based · Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Ovo-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free
With the listed swaps: Whole-food focusedWorked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for: Budget-friendly · Portable / lunchbox
Cook more with: All-purpose flour · Coconut · Red onion · Green chilli · Curry leaves · Coconut oil
Techniques: Pan-frying · Kneading

Allergens

Contains: Wheatfrom all-purpose flour
Contains: Glutenfrom all-purpose flour

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

442 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 167 g · recipe makes 4

Where the energy comes from

Protein 8%
Carbohydrate 58%
Fat 34%

Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
Nutrient	Per serving	Per 100 g*
Energy	442 kcal	265 kcal
Protein	9.2 g	5.5 g
Carbohydrate	64.3 g	38.6 g
Net carbohydrate	58.7 g	35.2 g
Sugars	3.4 g	2 g
Added sugars	0 g	0 g
Fibre	5.6 g	3.3 g
Fat	16.7 g	10 g
Saturated fat	—	—
Trans fat	—	—
Cholesterol	0 mg	0 mg
Sodium	594 mg	356 mg
Salt equivalent	1.5 g	0.9 g

Vitamins & minerals per serving

Potassium: 240 mg
Calcium: 23 mg
Iron: 4.5 mg
Magnesium: 31 mg
Vitamin A (RAE): 2 µg
Vitamin C: 9 mg
Vitamin D: 0 µg
Vitamin B12: —
Folate (DFE): —

How these numbers were made

Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
*Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
Not counted (tiny amounts or “to taste”): curry leaves.
“—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

Fresh or frozen grated coconut gives the softest roti.

Common mistakes

Patting the roti too thin — pol roti is thick and rustic, about 1 cm.

Serve with

Serve with pol sambol or lunu miris and a cup of tea, or with chicken curry.

Storage

Wrap and keep at room temperature for a day, or freeze.

Reheating

Warm on a dry griddle.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added 26 Oct 2026 · Updated 8 Nov 2026

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Compare with

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

All-purpose flour300 g
Coconut, freshly grated150 g

Used in step 1

Baker’s notes

Customise in Bread & Bakery

Timeline and readiness cues

Mix and knead · about 15 min
Knead until smooth and soft; it should feel like an earlobe.
Rest · about 10 min
Covered so it doesn't dry out; relaxed dough rolls and shapes without springing back.
Bake · about 25 min
Puffed with golden-brown spots on both sides.
Start to finish: about 50 min. Times are a guide — warmth changes everything; follow the cues.

The dough

The dough in baker's percentages. Flour = 100%.
Ingredient	Role	Weight	Baker’s %
All-purpose flour	Flour	300 g	100%
Coconut	Other	150 g	50%
Water	Water	130 g	43.3%
Red onion	Other	55 g	18.3%
Green chilli	Other	12 g	4%
Salt	Salt	6 g	2%
Curry leaves	Other	1 g	0.3%

Total flour: 300 g
Hydration: 43.3%
With milk, eggs…: 43.3%
Wholegrain: 0%

Hydration = water ÷ flour × 100. Milk is about 87% water and eggs about 75%, so they’re shown separately as “with milk, eggs…”.

Stiff dough (under 55% hydration) — firm, easy to roll; typical of bagels, pretzels and many flatbreads.
Salt 2% — normal for bread.

If something goes wrong

Pale crust
Likely causes
- Oven too cool
- Too little sugar or no milk/egg for browning
- Over-fermented (yeast ate the sugars)
What to do
- Check the oven with a thermometer
- Brush with egg wash or milk
- Shorten the fermentation
Burnt bottom
Likely causes
- Tray too close to the heat
- Dark tray absorbs more heat
- Too much sugar in the dough
What to do
- Bake on the middle shelf
- Double up trays or use a light-coloured one
- Lower the temperature 10–15 °C and bake a little longer
Tough or chewy flatbread
Likely causes
- Dough too stiff
- Not rested
- Cooked too slowly on too cool a pan
What to do
- Add water until the dough is soft and slightly tacky
- Rest 20–30 minutes covered so the gluten relaxes
- Cook on a very hot tawa or pan — quickly

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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