canai

Instead, canai is a Malay word sometimes translated as "to knead," but, according to Kuala Lumpur tour guide and food historian Najib Ariffin, "more correctly meaning 'to stretch or push something pliable or elastic.'"

Roti Canai 2009

Despite conjecture to the contrary, and the bread's possible origins in the same vicinity, the term "canai" has nothing to do with Chennai, capital of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Roti Canai 2009

Next, was the lamb belly roti canai -- an Indian-inspired flatbread, almost like an Indian pizza.

Scott Bridges: Modern-meets-traditional Asian Cuisine Scott Bridges 2012

Next, was the lamb belly roti canai -- an Indian-inspired flatbread, almost like an Indian pizza.

Scott Bridges: Modern-meets-traditional Asian Cuisine Scott Bridges 2012

Next, was the lamb belly roti canai -- an Indian-inspired flatbread, almost like an Indian pizza.

Scott Bridges: Modern-meets-traditional Asian Cuisine Scott Bridges 2012

Next, was the lamb belly roti canai -- an Indian-inspired flatbread, almost like an Indian pizza.

Scott Bridges: Modern-meets-traditional Asian Cuisine Scott Bridges 2012

Local delicacies such as roti canai (Indian fried bread with curry) and char kway teow (smoky flat noodles) are prepared in woks heated to near-solar temperatures by blue-flame gas burners.

Kuala Lumpur Update Andrew Harper's Hideway Report 2010

If you ask most Malaysians what they have for breakfast, it will be either roti canai or nasi lemak

Essential Malaysian ingredients 2010

If you ask most Malaysians what they have for breakfast, it will be either roti canai or nasi lemak

Nasi lemak (coconut rice) recipe 2010

So Vietnamese pho and banh mi sandwiches, dumplings with thick skin (no gyoza please), creative sushi rolls (the bigger the better), Korean cold noodles (spicy and non), Malaysian roti canai, anything the Indians do with cauliflower.

PROFILE: Midtown Lunch’er “Jennifer 8. Lee” (& Book Giveaway!) | Midtown Lunch - Finding Lunch in the Food Wasteland of NYC's Midtown Manhattan 2008