Type | Kitchen appliance, robot |
---|---|
Inventor | Pranoti Nagarkar-Israni Rishi Israni |
Inception | June 28, 2008 |
Manufacturer | Zimplistic Pte. Ltd. |
Available | United States UK Singapore Canada Australia New Zealand Middle East Germany India |
Website | rotimatic |
Rotimatic is an automated kitchen appliance that makes flatbread. It was invented by Indian-origin couple Pranoti Nagarkar and Rishi Israni in 2008.
It was first shipped in 2016, and is currently available in twenty markets. As of October 2018, it has generated a revenue of US$40 million.
Pranoti Nagarkar and Rishi Israni established their company ZImplistic Pte Ltd,. in Singapore with Rotimatic as their flagship product. The pre-order campaign started in 2014 and the product was delivered in 2016 and 2017 in Singapore and the United States respectively. As of April 2018, it is available in a total of 20 markets including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Arab Emirates. [1] [2]
As of October 2020, Zimplistic, has been acquired by Light Ray Holdings, a special-purpose vehicle incorporated in the British Virgin Islands. As of April 2021, more than 70,000 Rotimatics have been sold across 20 countries (45,000 units in the U.S.) [3]
Rotimatic was invented by Indian-born Pranoti Nagarkar and Rishi Israni. Nagarkar is a mechanical engineer and Israni studied computer science. [4] They are the Co-Founder of Zimplistic Pte Ltd., which was incorporated in Singapore in 2008. Rotimatic is the flagship product of their company. They are both alumni of National University of Singapore. [4] They have more than 35 patents under their belt.
By April 2018, Zimplistic, had raised around US$45 million through four rounds of venture funding. According to Zimplistic, Rotimatic generated a revenue of US$40 million in the fiscal year 2017-2018 by selling nearly 40,000 machines, with pre-order sales generating US$5 million.
To make roti (or other types of flatbread such as tortillas and puris), the user adds portions of flour, water, oil, and any additional ingredients into designated compartments to top up pre stored containers if needed. After selecting the thickness, softness, and 1 or 2 drops of oil, the user presses a button, and the machine then makes dough, flattens it, and cooks the roti in 90 seconds. Rotimatic can bake around 20 rotis starting from full compartments. [5] [6]
Rotimatic uses machine learning so each machine takes some time to make good bread; they are also connected to the internet for software upgrades. [7] [8] It takes about a minute to make one roti after the machine has been fully heated up which takes more than five minutes. [9] Weighing around 18 kilograms and measuring 16 by 16 inches, it has 15 sensors, 10 motors, and 300 parts. [10] [11]
The worldwide retail price of Rotimatic as of April 2018 is US$999; a high end bread machine cost around $170 at that time. [7] [12] Rotimatic is manufactured in Malaysia. [13]
Mashable called Rotimatic the first robotic roti maker. It further added that Zimplistic claims that one Rotimatic roti costs roughly five cents. A store-bought roti would cost around 40 to 50 cents. [14] Engadget referenced it as "the world's most expensive flatbread maker". [15]
Pita or pitta is a family of yeast-leavened round flatbreads baked from wheat flour, common in the Mediterranean, Levant, and neighboring areas. It includes the widely known version with an interior pocket, also known as Arabic bread. In the United Kingdom, Greek bread is used for pocket versions such as the Greek pita, and are used for barbecues as a souvlaki wrap. The Western name pita may sometimes be used to refer to various other types of flatbreads that have different names in their local languages, such as numerous styles of Arab khubz (bread).
Ghee is a type of clarified butter, originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is commonly used for cooking, as a traditional medicine, and for Hindu religious rituals.
Chapati, also known as roti, rooti, rotee, rotli, rotta, safati, shabaati, phulka, chapo, sada roti, poli, and roshi, is an unleavened flatbread originating from the Indian subcontinent and is a staple in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sri Lanka, the Arabian Peninsula, East Africa, and the Caribbean. Chapatis are made of whole-wheat flour known as atta, mixed into dough with water, oil (optional), and salt (optional) in a mixing utensil called a parat, and are cooked on a tava.
Naan is a leavened, oven-baked or tawa-fried flatbread, that can also be baked in a tandoor. It is characterized by a light and fluffy texture and golden-brown spots from the baking process. Naan is found in the cuisines of Central Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean.
Roti is a round flatbread originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is commonly consumed in many South Asian, Southeast Asian, Caribbean, and Southeast African countries.
Makki ki roti is a flat unleavened bread made from corn meal, primarily eaten in Pakistan, the Jammu region, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand in North India and Gujarat, Maharashtra in Western India and also in Nepal. Like most rotis in the Indian subcontinent, it is baked on a tava.
Motabbaq is a stuffed pancake or pan-fried bread which is commonly found in the Arabian Peninsula, the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, notably in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Southern Thailand. Depending on the location, the name and ingredients can significantly vary. The name mutabbaq in Arabic means "folded". It is a popular street food in Yemen, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore.
A flatbread is bread made usually with flour; water, milk, yogurt, or other liquid; and salt, and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are unleavened, although some are leavened, such as pita bread.
Khubz, alternatively transliterated as khoubz, khobez, khubez, or khubooz, is the usual word for "bread" in Standard Arabic and in many of the vernaculars.
The history of pizza begins in antiquity, as various ancient cultures produced flatbreads with several toppings.
A roti john is an omelette sandwich which originated in Singapore during the 1960s or 1970s. It later became widely popular, spreading throughout the Malay Peninsula in present-day Malaysia and in modern-day Indonesia as street food.
Awadhi cuisine is a cuisine native to the Awadh region in Northern India and Southern Nepal. The cooking patterns of Lucknow are similar to those of Central Asia, the Middle East, and Northern India and western India with the cuisine comprising both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. The Awadh region has been influenced by Mughal cooking techniques, and the cuisine of Lucknow bears similarities to those of Central Asia, Kashmir, Punjab and Hyderabad. The city is also known for its Nawabi foods.
Malaysian Indian cuisine, or the cooking of the ethnic Indian communities in Malaysia, consists of adaptations of authentic dishes from India, as well as original creations inspired by the diverse food culture of Malaysia. Because the vast majority of Malaysia's Indian community are of South Indian descent, and are mostly ethnic Tamils who are descendants of immigrants from a historical region which consists of the modern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka's Northern Province, much of Malaysian Indian cuisine is predominantly South Indian inspired in character and taste. A typical Malaysian Indian dish is likely to be redolent with curry leaves, whole and powdered spice, and contains fresh coconut in various forms. Ghee is still widely used for cooking, although vegetable oils and refined palm oils are now commonplace in home kitchens. Before a meal it is customary to wash hands as cutlery is often not used while eating, with the exception of a serving spoon for each respective dish.
Roti canai, or roti prata, also known as roti chanai and roti cane, is an Indian flatbread dish found in several countries in Southeast Asia, especially Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. It is usually served with dal or other types of curry but can also be cooked in a range of sweet or savoury variations made with different ingredients, such as meat, eggs, or cheese.
Paratha is a flatbread native to the Indian subcontinent, with earliest reference mentioned in early medieval Sanskrit, India; prevalent throughout the modern-day nations of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Mauritius, Fiji, Guyana, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago where wheat is the traditional staple. It is one of the most popular flatbreads in the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East. Paratha is an amalgamation of the words parat and atta, which literally means layers of cooked dough. Alternative spellings and names include parantha, parauntha, prontha, parontay, paronthi (Punjabi), porota, paratha, palata, porotha, forota, farata, prata, paratha, buss-up shut, oil roti and roti canai in Malaysia and Indonesia.
Indian Indonesian cuisine is characterized by the mixture of Indian cuisine with local Indonesian-style. This cuisine consists of adaptations of authentic dishes from India, as well as original creations inspired by the diverse food culture of Indonesia. Indian influence can be observed in Indonesia as early as the 4th century. Following the spread of Islam to Indonesia and trading, Muslim Indian as well as Arab influences made their way into Indonesian cuisine. Examples include Indian biryani, murtabak, curry and paratha that influenced Acehnese, Minangkabau, Malay, Palembangese, Betawi and Javanese cuisine.
Roti bakar, also known as roti kahwin, refers to a type of toast bread in maritime Southeast Asia, usually prepared with grilled white bread, in both the Indonesian and Malay languages. The dish is a popular breakfast food as well as tea time snack in countries like Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Historically, roti bakar was grilled or toasted by using charcoal as a heat source in many communities throughout the region, though this practice has dwindled with the advent of modern technology.
Shane Wighton is an American engineer best known for his YouTube channel, Stuff Made Here, an engineering-focused channel where Wighton builds various creative inventions. Wighton launched the channel in March 2020, and as of August 2024, Stuff Made Here has over 4.5 million subscribers and over 298 million total views. With average views per video exceeding 9 million, the videos are among the most-watched engineering project content on the platform.