Scooping up chicken curry with delicate, lacy rounds of roti jala doesn’t really change the flavor of the sauce...but the crepes are certainly more fun to make than your usual flatbread.

A roti jala mold is basically a five-fold funnel, simple yet effective. Before I found these two at Kamei on San Francisco’s Clement Street, I punched holes in a tin can to create my own. It worked almost as well, though I still have a small dent in the nail of my left forefinger for my efforts.

Like all crepes, practice makes perfect and the first one that emerges from the pan is for the cook.

To make roti jala:

Whisk together until smooth 2 cups flour, 2 lightly beaten eggs, 1 cup milk (or, if you’d like a richer version, coconut milk), 1 cup water, 1 tablespoon oil, salt and a pinch of turmeric. If needed, stir in more milk or water to create a batter that is the consistency of heavy cream.

Heat a large nonstick or well-seasoned crepe pan over medium heat. When hot, brush lightly with oil. Fill the roti jala mold with at least 1/2 cup batter and then swirl it, slowly and evenly, over the pan to create thin, overlapping threads. Cook until just very lightly browned on bottom and cooked through on top. Flip onto a clean surface and let cool slightly before folding and transferring to a platter.

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