Appetizer, Fusion, Lunch, Dinner and Entrees

Street foods of India – Episode 3

Nutritious Ambrosia
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Kothu Roti or Kothu Parotta – Srilankan special 

VEGAN, VEGETARIAN, NUT-FREE

Kothu parotta is a delicious one-pot dish – it can be an appetizer, a main course, or even a midnight snack for those hangover days 🤪

Think of kothu parotta as a stir-fry of leftover thick curry and a variety of flaky bread. Although I do not know if this was indeed true, here is my guess on how this dish could have been envisaged – take some robust leftover curry made with onions, tomato, and plenty of aromatics. Rip apart layered bread and toss everything together. 

I have seen recipes where meats are included. I have also seen variations which add eggs and scramble them. Other versions also included plenty of fresh veggies. Now you know why I said one-pot dish. 😀

The base for this dish is just a good curry and bread. Customize it to your preference to make it your own version.

Today’s recipe will stick to the original: preparing a good curry from scratch and making use of thick parotta, which is a multi-layered flat bread. 

Note – This bread is a speciality found in both the Chettinadu region of the state of Tamilnadu and entire state of Kerala. 

The Sri Lankan cusine always features kothu roti so it is possible that this dish found its way to the southern part of India from Ceylon. ‘Kothu’ also means a bunch, so bunches of breads. 🙂 

This preparation is also served with a runny side dish called Salna. I will explore this in another post. Happy eating! 

Asian style pita strips stir-fry

Other street foods in this series –

New Series – Street foods of India

Street Foods of India – Episode 2

Print Recipe

Srilankan Street food – Kothu roti or parotta

Today’s recipe will stick to the original – preparing a good curry from scratch. Making use of thick, flaky parotta. Customize it to your preference to make it your own version 😀 go ahead and personalize it! 
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: Indian, srilanka
Servings: 6

Ingredients

  • 4 Parotta ripped to pieces
  • 1 large Onion finely chopped
  • 3 large Tomatoes chopped
  • Curry Leaves handful
  • 4 Green chillies chopped
  • 5 pods Garlic sliced
  • 1 tbsp Sour Cream optional
  • Cilantro chopped for garnish

Spices – Cinnamon, Cloves, Cardamom, Bay Leaves

    Powders –

    • 1 tsp Turmeric powder
    • 1 tsp Red Chilly powder

    Instructions

    • Take a large skillet and add oil liberally 
    • Start with frying the spices
    • Next add curry leaves and green chillies
    • Next add onions and garlic and fry until translucent
    • Add the tomatoes and fry to a nice pulp
    • Add the ripped parotta. Add sour cream and the powders
    • By using 2 spatulas, do a drum like beating movement with both hands and mix evenly
    • The roti pieces will be coated with the cooked curry
    • Garnish with plenty of cilantro leaves
    • Options – Add eggs and scramble; use any choice of meats; add any veggies

    Published by Nutritious Ambrosia

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