Why does my roti canai never turn out like the mamak one at home?

Ha, roti canai humbles everyone at home. Key things I learned: one, the dough must be soft and well-oiled and rested long (overnight is best), a stiff or under-rested dough will always be hard. Two, don't add too much flour when handling, use oil instead so it stays stretchy. Three, get it really thin, if you can't do the fancy flip, just oil your hands and the counter and slowly stretch it out until almost see-through, then fold into layers. Four, high heat and ghee on the pan, and scrunch the roti while hot for that flaky texture. Store-bought frozen ones are honestly decent shortcuts if scratch is frustrating. It's a skill the abang does hundreds of times daily, so cut yourself slack and keep practising.

From my experience, the mamak secret is mostly resting time and fat. The dough needs a high-fat coating (ghee or oil) and must rest for hours, ideally overnight in the fridge, so the gluten relaxes and becomes stretchy enough to flip thin. If yours is hard, you're likely under-resting and over-flouring. Coat each dough ball generously in oil, cover, and rest long. The famous flip-and-stretch is to get it paper thin; if you can't flip, oil your hands and table and gently stretch it out thin, then fold. Cook on a hot flat griddle with ghee, and right after cooking, clap/scrunch it between your hands to make it flaky. Practice the stretch, that's 80 percent of it. It takes a few tries, don't give up.