Hindustani
Roti: the best-known dish in Suriname
Roti is a Surinamese-Hindustani dish of a thin griddled flatbread served alongside chicken, potato, long bean and masala. A plate in a Paramaribo roti shop typically costs SRD 80 to SRD 180 (roughly €2–€5).
Flavour and texture
Mild and earthy, heavy on turmeric and cumin. The heat comes from the sambal you add yourself.
Street price, indicative SRD 80–180
Roti arrived with the Hindustani indentured labourers brought from British India from 1873 onwards, and became something of its own here. The Surinamese version is larger and softer, and is usually a dhal roti: the dough is filled with ground yellow split peas before griddling, which makes it pale yellow and slightly grainy inside.
The reason that migration happened was the abolition of slavery on 1 July 1863, followed by ten years of state supervision that ran until 1873. When that lapsed the plantations went looking for new labour, and the first ship of indentured labourers from British India, the Lalla Rookh, arrived on 5 June 1873. Around 34,000 people followed up to 1916. They brought the tawa (the flat griddle), the masala and the yellow split pea, and with them the roti.
What was made of it here is Surinamese. The plate took chicken instead of goat, potato instead of a second curry, and long bean from the garden. The roti shop itself is a Surinamese form too: a counter where you carry a plate away in foil, not something that travelled from British India.
You eat it with your hands. Tear off a piece of roti, pick up chicken or potato with it, dip into the masala gravy. Cutlery usually appears, but nobody blinks if you leave it.
The default order is "roti kip", roti with chicken. Ask for "roti with everything" and you generally also get long bean, egg and sometimes a piece of pumpkin. The pepper comes separately in a small dish. Madame Jeanette, and that is not a suggestion.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Surinamese and Indian roti?
Surinamese roti is larger and softer than an Indian chapati, and is usually a dhal roti filled with ground yellow split peas. The accompaniments differ too, in Suriname almost always chicken, potato and long bean in masala, in India a far wider range of curries.
What does roti cost in Paramaribo?
In an ordinary roti shop in Paramaribo expect SRD 80 to SRD 180 for a plate of roti with chicken, depending on the shop and the extras. That is roughly €2 to €5.
Can you get vegetarian roti?
Yes. Almost every roti shop has a vegetarian version with potato, long bean, pumpkin and dhal instead of chicken. Ask for "roti met groente" or vegetarian roti.
Where does roti come from?
Roti comes from northern India and reached Suriname with the Hindustani indentured labourers. The first ship, the Lalla Rookh, docked in Paramaribo on 5 June 1873, and around 34,000 people followed from British India up to 1916. Over that century and a half the dish became Surinamese.
What is dhal?
Dhal is ground or cooked yellow split pea. In Suriname it is above all the filling of the roti flatbread, the dhal roti, and separately a thin soup eaten over rice. The word is Hindi for split pulse; bara and phulauri are made from ground pulses too.
Where do you eat roti in Paramaribo?
In a roti shop. The best-known cluster around the Maagdenstraat and in Latour, and a plate costs SRD 80 to SRD 180. Roti is also on our Paramaribo food tour.