Roti (the roti plate) is Hindustani for 'bread'. Bread but flat, a flatbread. And it looks like a pancake. The bread, the Roti, was brought from India by Hindustani immigrants at the end of the 19th century. And grew into one of the national dishes of Suriname. The dough contains fried split peas and masala spices and then rolled out into pancake size. The roti is a type of unsweetened bread pancake that can have various additions. The Surinamese variant often contains ground yellow split peas (roti dal) or potatoes (roti alu) and with seasonings such as cumin and chili pepper. For the preparation, balls of dough (possibly with additional ingredients) are rolled out into thin “pancakes” that are baked on a so-called roti plate. The Surinamese roti is served with a number of side dishes. Such as long beans, potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, garlic, onion and different types of meat (chicken, lamb, beef). These side dishes are usually seasoned with masala, a mixture of ground spices similar to curry.
It is customary to eat the roti with your hands.
People break off a piece of the roti wrap to take the chicken, potatoes, etc. with the piece in their hand and eat it.