Paratha roll

• Comment: The article looks good, but how is it different from Paratha? Noah ^💬 20:51, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

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Paratha roll or roll paratha, originally in (Urdu: پراٹھا رول) is a popular Pakistani street food that is similar to shawarma. Paratha roll is a paratha, a crispy oily flatbread, rolled around meat pieces or kebab, vegetables, and sauces. While any choice of meat may be used the most popular choice of meat is chicken.

Chicken paratha roll is available across Pakistan. Due to the ease of preparation, paratha roll also made at home for school and office lunches, for late night snacking, for house parties, and for picnics. The Pakistani fraternity has even introduced this popular Pakistani snack in the USA.

Origins

The dish can be traced back to the 1970s in the city of Karachi, Pakistan when Hafiz Habib ur Rehman first created it out of necessity while serving a customer at Silver Spoon Snack - his Karachi food outlet . Normally he would serve a Paratha and a Kebab on a plate with traditional sauce. However one day a customer in a hurry asked him to pack the Paratha and Kebab. Hurriedly, Hafiz Habib ur Rehman rolled the Kebab inside the Paratha, wrapped it in a wax paper, and handed it over to the customer. Another customer witnessing it asked for the same parcel, and Rehman made it a regular offering.

Subsequent attempts by multinational fast food chains to introduce Paratha Roll on their menu could not dent the following of the traditional Paratha Roll. In 2019, Kentucky Fried Chicken introduced Zingeratha - their version of the traditional Paratha Roll. However the reaction of Pakistani foodies remained mixed. Eventually, KFC removed Zingeratha from their menu after failing to mimic the traditional Chicken Paratha Roll.

For many Pakistanis the experience of a Paratha Roll has emotional connotations. In the Pakistani tradition Parathas have been a staple item for breakfast. Pakistan is a predominantly traditional family system where mothers cook for the family. Many fans of Paratha Roll connect the experience with the memory of their mothers' cooking at home.

Chicken Paratha Roll

The most popular variant of Paratha Roll because of the ease and wide availability of chicken and its lower cost compared to beef, mutton, and lamb meat. Chicken Paratha Roll comes in several flavors based on the sauce . A more recent addition is the stuffing of French fries inside the Paratha Roll. However, traditional Paratha Roll with chunks of fried or grilled chicken, salad, and chutney - a South Asian traditional sauce - with an optional hint of ketchup and barbeque sauce remains the most favorite . Spicy Chicken Paratha Roll also remains a favorite especially in Karachi's Urdu speaking community . Tandori Chicken Paratha Roll is a favorite variant amongst BBQ flavor seeking foodies.