• 4 cups of self-raising flour
  • 1.3 cups of water
  • 0.5 ounces of salt
  • 2.5 ounces of yellow split peas
  • 1 tablespoon of cumin
  • 2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
  • 1 Madame Jeanette-peper
  • 2 pounds of chicken legs
  • 0.5 cup of cooking oil
  • 1 onion (chopped)
  • 4 cloves of garlic (chopped)
  • 1.5 oounces of Masala
  • Black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon of cumin
  • 2 diced tomatoes
  • 1.3 cups of chicken broth
  • 4 potatoes(peeled and cut into four pieces)
  • 2 yellow chilli peppers
  • 1 more small chopped onion
  • 1 more garlic clove
  • 1 more tablespoon of cumin
  • 14 ounces of green beans (as long as possible)
  • 6 eggs

The Dutch kitchen has been influenced by many different cultures all over the world during the colonial era. The Netherlands colonized the Antilles (in the Caribbean sea), Indonesia, South Africa and Suriname. As a result, traditional Dutch recipes sometimes contain exotic spices. Also, along with people from these country migrating from their tropical homeland to the Netherlands, complete dishes were imported from overseas, and sometimes ‘Dutchified’ to fit the tastes of the Dutch natives. This recipe for roti is one of those dishes, and that’s why it is very much a Dutch recipe to us. This recipe for Roti has three main components: a kind of pancake on which the rest of the dish is served, a chicken-potato ‘stew’ and vegetables. As a result, the same ingredients can return multiple times in the recipe. So, just to avoid any confusion: you need everything on the list, and if it is mentioned multiple times, please keep the different portions of the same ingredient separate as you need them for different puposes.


First, the recipe for roti, the pancake on which the rest of the meal is served, itself:

  1. Knead the baking flour with the water and the salt until it becomes dough.
  2. Cook the split peas for 20 to 25 minutes until they are done.
  3. Add the tablespoon of chopped cumin, a garlic clove and 1 yellow chilli pepper to the peas and blend this mixture in a food processor.
  4. Make 12 small balls of the dough and make a little dimple in the middle. Fill this with the split-pea and spices mixture and close it to form a ball again.
  5. Spread some flour out where you are working and roll the ball out to form a flat pancake
  6. Bake the pancakes in a semi-hot frying pan with a little bit of oil, until they are nice and brown on both sides.

Then, on to the chicken masala and potatoes bit of the recipe:

  1. Bake the chicken in plenty of oil until golden brown
  2.  Scoop two thirds of the oil out of the pan and add the chopped onion, 4 chopped cloves of garlic and the teaspoon of cumin, as well as the masala and black pepper
  3. Bake for three minutes on high heat and stir continuously
  4. Add the tomatoes and bake these along with the rest for another two minutes. Keep stirring.
  5. Add the chicken broth and keep heating until it boils.
  6. Turn the heat down, add the poatato parts and the whole yellow chilli peppers and leave on the stove for 45 minutes.

Then, we prepare the vegetables and eggs of our not-so-typically-Dutch Dutch recipe:

  1. Heat three tablespoons of cooking oil in another frying pan and fry the remaining chopped onion and a chopped up clove of garlic for two minutes.
  2. Add the green beans. Turn the heat up high and keep adding small amounts of water. This way, the beans will be done sooner.
  3. Finally, cook the eggs for 5 minutes, put them in ice water until colled down. Peal and dry the eggs.
  4. Bake the cooked eggs in plenty of oil until golden brown and add them to the masala sauce.

Serve by putting the roti pancake on a plate. Put the chicken-potato mixture and the sauce on top of them and add the green beans and eggs.

Find baking the roti too much hassle? You can also serve the masala chicken, green beans and eggs with rice or on a tortilla wrap.

It should be mentioned here that there probably as many recipes for roti as there are Surinamese, people. However, the main components are nearly always the same. The more exotic foods, similar to this recipe for Roti, can be found in de “Dutch ethnic food” category on this site.

Njang swietie! (Surinamese for Bon appetit)