Go Back
Roosterkoek recipe in progress: golden bread rolls turning on a braai grid over low coals in an Australian backyard

Roosterkoek

South African braai bread cooked straight on the grid over low coals. One rise in the bowl, a short rest once shaped, then twenty minutes of turning while the fire does the work.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes
Servings: 8 roosterkoek
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 500 g plain flour about 3⅓ cups. Bakers flour works and gives a chewier roll, but take the water to 320 ml
  • 7 g instant dried yeast one Australian sachet, about 2 teaspoons. No need to activate it in water first
  • 2 tsp caster sugar feeds the yeast and helps the crust colour
  • 1½ tsp fine salt about 9 g. Mix it through the flour before the water goes in
  • 300 to 320 ml lukewarm water start at 300, add the rest only if dry flour is left in the bowl
  • 1½ tbsp olive oil or canola oil about 30 ml, plus a little more for the grid
  • butter, to serve

Method
 

  1. Stir the flour, yeast, sugar and salt together in a large bowl until the salt is spread right through.
  2. Pour in 300 ml of the lukewarm water and the oil, then work it into a shaggy dough with one hand, adding the last 20 ml only if dry flour is left.
  3. Knead on a floured bench for 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and springs back when you press it with a finger.
  4. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave it somewhere warm for 45 to 60 minutes, until it has doubled in size.
  5. Knock the dough back, divide it into 8 pieces, roll each into a ball and flatten it to about 2 cm thick.
  6. Cover the shaped rolls and rest them for 15 minutes while the fire burns down to low, even coals with a grey coat of ash.
  7. Oil the grid, set it about 15 cm above the coals, and cook the roosterkoek for 15 to 20 minutes, turning every 3 or 4 minutes.
  8. They are ready when both sides are browned and a roll sounds hollow when you tap it. Split them while hot and butter them.

Notes

Quantities are our own working version, built around a 500 g bag measure and a single 7 g Australian yeast sachet. Water is the number to watch. Plain flour drinks less than bakers flour, so start at 300 ml and keep the last 20 ml in the jug until you can see whether the dough needs it.