Chicken and Potato Roti

1. Add a pint of chicken stock to the simmer and put three tablespoons of sugar into a large saucepan on high; cook until the sugar caramelizes, then add the cubed chicken breasts and stir until the chicken browns.
2. Add chopped onions, garlic, parsley, thyme, jerk seasoning, salt, and the whole scotch bonnet pepper – do not cut up the pepper! Reduce the heat to low and let this simmer for 25 minutes.
   25 minutes
3. In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, and add a pinch of salt to taste.
4. Now add the first tablespoon of shortening, and with your fingers, rub the flour into the shortening until it forms a breadcrumb-like consistency.
5. Then add the second tablespoon of shortening and rub against the flour until it looks like breadcrumbs.
6. Now add the third tablespoon of shortening and repeat the process.
7. You should by now have used all the flour. Your bowl should be all breadcrumb-like; if you still have fresh flour, use another tablespoon of shortening until your fresh flour is all used up.
8. Add a small amount of water and mix with a butter knife; keep adding small amounts until your mixture forms a soft dough.
9. Now dust your surface with flour and roll out your pastry; you want to roll wafer-thin rounds – this mixture should make at least 12 roti skins.
10. Cover with a tea towel while returning to the pot.
11. Now peel the potatoes and cube them into small bite-size pieces.
12. After 25 minutes of simmering, add 1/2 pint of water and the potatoes to the pool.
    25 minutes
13. Now cover and cook for 30 minutes on low heat.
    30 minutes
14. Turn a flat baking tray upside down, lightly cover with foil, and place on the stovetop on high; cook each roti skin for 1 minute on each side until brown but not crisp.
    1 minute
15. Now pile up your cooked roti skins, remove the pot after 30 minutes, and remove the whole scotch bonnet.
    30 minutes
16. Take the entire pot to the table with a pile of plates; each person assumes the roti skin, lays it flat on the scale, spoons some filling into the middle of the roti skin, and folds around the filling eats enjoy.

Cooking notes

When scaling protein-led dishes, weigh the meat rather than counting pieces, and remember that the pan size limits how much you can sear at once.

For volume-to-weight conversions of any ingredient — flour, sugar, butter, salts — use the ingredient converter. To translate the recipe's oven temperature between °C, °F and gas mark, see the temperature converter.

When you scale this recipe up or down, remember that cooking time does not scale linearly. A doubled cake takes longer, but not twice as long; a doubled soup takes roughly twice as long. The cooking-time guide gives sensible starting estimates by dish geometry.