The response to my last blog on Thesevi’s Jalan Kayu Prata hit the record for the most number of comments ever! Spurred on by the tremendous response, I set out on a quest to find Singapore’s Ultimate Prata. Now, given that I have already sampled most of the Prata places recommended by our readers, I knew that in order to get the Ultimate Prata, it had to be a special order. So the plan was to find a reasonable prata place and get them to make me a prata to my specifications. (Same way the ieat SuperBurger and Godzilla Da Pao was born) For me, the Ultimate Prata would have to be big and fluffy on the inside, crispy on the outside and taste really good.
I knew there were several pretty reasonable Prata places at Simpang Bedok. Being a Centre for Roti Prata, the chances of finding a reasonable one should be quite good. We visited four Roti Prata Stalls and repeated the same order at each stall ie “I want a big Prata, use 2 dough and make into one Prata. I want it thick and crispy but not too oily. The best Prata Kosong you can give me!”
Out of the four stalls, 2 emerged with a Prata which I consider to be well worth your calories! Actually most Prata Chefs are quite happy to oblige when they are not too busy. (I went in the afternoon when there is no crowd). Prata making can be quite mundane, so when you give them the challenge of making the Ultimate Prata, most of them are quite happy to oblige!
Now here is a man I consider the Prata Champ. He’s from Chennai and had been making Prata in Malaysia for 10 years before coming over to Singapore where he has been working for a few years. If you stacked all the pratas that he has made in his life, you’d get a tower of prata stretching from Singapore to KL. (Assume 15 years making Prata @700 per day, each prata being 1cm in thickness = 383.25km)
Just look at how thin he stretches the dough! He as the advantage of having a large work area, giving him lots of room to flip the prata till it is almost 3/4 of a meter in diameter. After that, the Prata is folded and left to rest for a few minutes before being flattened and fried. They use a commercial dough here, which is commonly used by many prata places.
Be still my trembling tastebuds! Now this is a Prata worthy of praise! Crispy on the outside, light and fluffy with microthin layers of dough on the inside, this is probably the best Prata I have had in terms of texture. Unfortunately, tastewise the Prata faltered. Instead of a buttery, savoury flavour, the taste of cheap margarine was predominant.
Conclusion
Almost there but not quite. The texture was excellent, but in order to get the Ultimate Prata, I think the dough has to be made in house. Still this Prata beats any Pratas I have eaten so far hands down. 4.25/5
