Karl’s Ugandan Rolex—Roti Eggs

I am always looking for new dishes to try and to adapt to my family’s diet. One rich source I have found is Beryl’s YouTube channel. She has people from all over the world sending her their favorite dishes and she presents how differently some people make similar dishes. One episode we watched recently was for Ugandan Rolex—the source of this rather odd name is the result of tourists mishearing the phrase “roti eggs” and having it stick.

Note: You may be thinking, “Isn’t a roti/chapatti an Indian food, not an African dish?” Ah, Colonialism, both countries were part of the British Empire. Indian cooks were brought to Uganda in the course of history and, of course, their foods went with them to become part of Ugandan culture.

This dish is basically scrambled eggs wrapped in a chapatti. The dish Beryl presented included cabbage, red onions, and tomatoes mixed in with the eggs. While Beryl used store bought chapatti, I decided to make my own and since I cannot make any dish as written I threw some shiitake mushroom into the eggs.

Note: Those unfamiliar with Indian cuisine may be asking what is the difference between a roti—a flat bread—and a chapatti. The answer is that, while all chapatti are roti, not all roti are chapatti. Chapatti are made with whole wheat, while other roti can be made with a variety or even a mixture of flours.

Karl’s Ugandan Rolex—Roti Eggs

Ingredients

Chapatti

1 cup whole wheat flour
½ cup + ¼ cup AP flour
½ tsp. Kosher salt

¾ cup hot water
1 Tbs. ghee

Rolex filling (for each Rolex)

1 shiitake mushroom
2 Tbs. red onion (I used yellow onion)
2 Tbs. cabbage, finely shredded
2 Tbs. tomato, diced

2 eggs
1 tsp. cream or milk
Pinch black pepper
Pinch Kosher salt

Directions

Chapatti

Note: The dough should rest for at least one hour—so that the flour can completely hydrate—before you roll it out. Making it the night before—if you are planning to make it for breakfast—is a good idea. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it over night.

1. Place the flours and salt in a bowl and whisk it to mix it thoroughly.

Tip: The extra quarter cup of flour is to dust the board while you are kneading the dough.

Note: While I used a combination of both WW and AP flour, you may use all whole wheat.

2. Bring water to a boil and add half a cup of hot water to a measuring cup.

3. Melt a tablespoon of ghee in the hot water.

Tip: While many people will make chapatti without oil—of any kind—it will give you a more tender and pliable chapatti.

Note: There are even recipes that call for not using any salt as well.

4. Add another quarter cup of water to the measuring cup.

Tip: You want to start with hot water to melt the ghee. The ghee will go a long way in cooling down the boiling water. You want the final temperature of your liquid to be 110° F—not to hot not too cold. Add warm or cool water to the measuring cup, so that when you are finished your water is at this temperature. You should have ¾ cup plus one tablespoon of liquid when you are finished.

Note: The warm water denatures the proteins in the flour preventing them from forming gluten, leaving you with a tender bread.

5. Add the liquid to the flour and mix until the dough forms a ball.

6. Sprinkle some flour onto a smooth work board and knead the dough for 8-10 minutes—adding flour to the board as needed.

Tip: You want a soft dough that is also not sticky.

Note: Do not add so much flour that you end up with dry dough that would be hard to roll out.

7. Form the dough into a ball and wrap it in plastic wrap to keep it from drying out.

8. Let the dough rest for at least one hour.

Tip: See the note at the beginning of the directions.

9. Evenly divide the dough into six pieces and roll them into balls.

Note: I divided mine into eight and I think they were a bit too small and thin.

10. Flatten the dough balls and roll them out into 10-12 inch disks.

11. Heat a wide, flat, non-stick pan or griddle over medium high heat.

Tip: You may lightly grease the surface, but it is not absolutely necessary.

12. Lay one chapatti on the pan and let it cook for 2-3 minutes—until the underside is spotty browned.

13. Flip the chapatti and cook the second side for 1-2 minutes, until it is also spotty browned.

Tip: The chapatti should still be flexible when you are finished cooking. You do not want it to be crisp as it will break as you try to wrap it around the eggs.

Note: Make only as many chapatti as you need to serve your diners, as they dry out quickly. If you have extra dough balls freeze them for another occasion.

14. Place the finished chapatti on a wire rack as you prepare your eggs.

Egg filling

15. Slice the cabbage, mushroom, and onion finely and dice the tomato.

Tip: You want to cook the egg filling for each diner separately. When you are finished cooking the eggs you want to have a thin disk of egg and vegetables that is slightly smaller than your chapatti.

Note: I did not have any red onion on hand, so I used some yellow onion. Feel free to add any combination of vegetables that pleases you.

16. Scramble the eggs in a bowl.

Tip: Both Beryl and the Ugandan cook in her video added the raw vegetables directly to the eggs. I thought that by the time the vegetables were cooked sufficiently, the eggs would be over cooked. As a result I decided to start cooking the vegetables and to then add the eggs to the pan after they had gotten a good head start.

Note: Both Beryl and the Ugandan cook also used just plain eggs, I decided to add a touch of cream and salt and pepper.

17. Lightly grease a pan, over medium heat, and add the mushrooms.

Note: You want your pan to be only slightly smaller than your chapatti. You want a thin layer of eggs so a 10-12 inch non-stick sauté pan would be best.

18. After one minute of cooking, add the cabbage, onions, and tomato.

19. Sauté the vegetables for 1-2 minutes.

20. Reduce the heat and stir in the scrambles eggs.

21. Swirl the pan so that the eggs form a flat, even disk.

22. Cook the eggs—undisturbed—for about two minutes, until the top of the eggs and almost set.

23. Run a spatula around the edges of the eggs to free it from the pan and flip the eggs over.

24. Cook the eggs for a final minute.

25. Lay one chapatti on a plate and slide the egg disk on top of it.

26. Roll the eggs up in the chapatti and cut the roll on a bias.

27. Repeat the steps (16-26) for preparing the eggs for each diner.

Note: if you are making this dish for more than two people you might consider running two pans simultaneously.

28. Serve warm.