Pranoti Nagarkar-Israni: Building the Machine That Makes Roti

Pranoti Nagarkar-Israni is a Singapore-based engineer and entrepreneur who co-founded the company Zimplistic and spent nearly a decade building the Rotimatic, an automatic roti-making machine.

Pranoti Nagarkar-Israni is a Singapore-based engineer and entrepreneur who co-founded the company Zimplistic and spent nearly a decade building the Rotimatic, an automatic roti-making machine.

Making fresh roti by hand takes time, practice, and attention.

Making fresh roti by hand takes time, practice, and attention.

The cook has to measure and mix the flour, knead the dough to the right texture, divide it, roll each piece into a thin round, and cook it on a hot griddle.

The cook has to measure and mix the flour, knead the dough to the right texture, divide it, roll each piece into a thin round, and cook it on a hot griddle.

In households that eat roti every day, this process can take thirty minutes or more of focused work.

In households that eat roti every day, this process can take thirty minutes or more of focused work.

Nagarkar-Israni, who grew up making roti herself, saw this as an engineering problem.

Nagarkar-Israni, who grew up making roti herself, saw this as an engineering problem.

She began developing a machine that could handle each step automatically: measuring flour and water, kneading, pressing, and cooking the roti, all without the cook needing to stand over it.

She began developing a machine that could handle each step automatically: measuring flour and water, kneading, pressing, and cooking the roti, all without the cook needing to stand over it.

The development of the Rotimatic took approximately seven years.

The development of the Rotimatic took approximately seven years.

The engineering challenges were significant.

The engineering challenges were significant.

Dough behaves differently depending on flour type, humidity, and water ratio.

Dough behaves differently depending on flour type, humidity, and water ratio.

Getting the machine to produce a consistent, properly cooked roti across variable conditions required years of iteration.

Getting the machine to produce a consistent, properly cooked roti across variable conditions required years of iteration.

The Rotimatic was first delivered to customers in 2017.

The Rotimatic was first delivered to customers in 2017.

It found a strong market among South Asian diaspora households in countries where fresh-made roti was part of daily food culture but time constraints made daily handmaking difficult.

It found a strong market among South Asian diaspora households in countries where fresh-made roti was part of daily food culture but time constraints made daily handmaking difficult.

The machine represents a specific kind of engineering: not simplifying a task, but automating one that is culturally embedded, technically demanding, and deeply familiar to the people who need it most.

The machine represents a specific kind of engineering: not simplifying a task, but automating one that is culturally embedded, technically demanding, and deeply familiar to the people who need it most.

Pranoti Nagarkar-Israni built something that solved a real problem for real families, and she built it by understanding both the technology and the task.

Pranoti Nagarkar-Israni built something that solved a real problem for real families, and she built it by understanding both the technology and the task.

Moral: The best tool for a daily problem comes from someone who knows the problem from the inside.

Moral: The best tool for a daily problem comes from someone who knows the problem from the inside.