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Kottu

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Kottu roti
Chicken kottu roti
Alternative namesKothu roti, kothu parotta, kottu
CourseMain course
Place of originSri Lanka
Region or stateBatticaloa, Sri Lanka[1]
Serving temperatureHot
Main ingredientsRoti, egg, beef, chicken, onion, chilli pepper

Kottu roti (Tamil: கொத்து ரொட்டி; Sinhala: කොත්තු රොටි),[2][3][4][5] alternatively spelled kothu roti, is a Sri Lankan dish consisting of chopped roti, a meat curry dish of choice (such as beef, mutton, seafood, chicken) along with scrambled egg, onions, and chillies.[6][4][7][8] A variation of the dish is found in the south Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, known as kothu parotta (Tamil: கொத்து பரோட்டா; Malayalam: കൊത്തു പൊറോട്ട), which is made using parotta instead of roti. Kottu roti can also be found internationally in restaurants in regions containing Sri Lankan diaspora populations.[9][10][11][12][13]

History

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A dish of Kottu roti

The word koththu means "to chop" in Tamil, referring to its method of preparation,[14] as the ingredients are commonly chopped together using special cleavers, whilst they sauté on a hot griddle. This has been simplified in Tamil and Sinhalese to Kothu or Kottu respectively.

It is generally thought to have originated as street food in the eastern province of Sri Lanka in the 1960s/1970s, as an inexpensive meal for the lower socio-economic classes. The basic roti is made of Gothamba flour, a wheat flour made out of a variety of grains-referring to the white flour, [15][16] also known as wheat roti or gothamba/godamba roti in Sinhala and "veechu parotta", "veechu roti" in Tamil.

Traditionally, kottu is made from recycling day-old godamba rotis, which are chopped up into small strips and mixed with an assortment of spices, fried vegetables, possibly egg or meat, and topped with chillies and onions. The old roti chunks were castoffs the bakers couldn’t sell, and an enterprising lower class took advantage of the inexpensive food source.[17]

Preparation

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Kottu,[18] is made up of paratha or wheat flour (Godamba roti), which is cut into small pieces or ribbons.[18] Then on a heated iron sheet or griddle, vegetables and onions are fried. Eggs, cooked meat, or fish are added to fried vegetables and heated for a few minutes. Finally, the pieces of cut paratha are added. These are chopped and mixed by repeated pounding using heavy iron blades/spatula, the sound of which is very distinctive and can usually be heard from a long distance. Depending upon what ingredients are used, the variations are vegetable, egg, beef, chicken, mutton, and fish kottu roti.[19] It is often prepared and served as a fast food dish.[19]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Pathirage, Jagath Bandara (8 October 2024). Home Across Borders: An Ethnography of Sri Lankan Immigrants in Australia. Taylor & Francis. p. 152. ISBN 978-1-040-15583-7. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  2. ^ Senaratne, Chamindi Dilkushi (2009). Sinhala-English Code-mixing in Sri Lanka: A Sociolinguistic Study. Vol. 217. Utrecht: Landelijke Onderzoekschool Taalwetenschap. p. 299. ISBN 9789078328926.
  3. ^ Lopamudra Maitra Bajpai (2020). India, Sri Lanka and the SAARC Region: History, Popular Culture and Heritage. Taylor & Francis. p. 254. ISBN 9781000205817.
  4. ^ a b Kraig, Bruce Kraig; Taylor, Colleen (2013). Street Food around the World: An Encyclopedia of Food and Culture. ABC-CLIO. p. 328. ISBN 9781598849554.
  5. ^ Thaker, Aruna; Barton, Arlene, eds. (2012). Multicultural Handbook of Food, Nutrition and Dietetics. John Wiley & Sons. p. 88. ISBN 9781118350461.
  6. ^ Reeves, Peter, ed. (2013). The Encyclopedia of the Sri Lankan Diaspora. Editions Didier Millet. p. 174. ISBN 9789814260831.
  7. ^ "Chicken Kottu Roti Recipe". New York Times. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  8. ^ "Patak's Beef Kottu Rotti Recipe". Daily Telegraph. 8 February 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  9. ^ "Spice City Toronto: Sri Lanka comes to Queen Street". torontoist.com. 8 November 2013. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  10. ^ Bartholomeusz, Rachel (2 June 2017). "Where to eat in Sydney's Little Sri Lanka". Good Food Guide - Australia. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  11. ^ Ueda, Reed, ed. (2017). America's Changing Neighborhoods: An Exploration of Diversity through Places. ABC-CLIO. p. 1064. ISBN 9781440828652.
  12. ^ "SL Embassy in US woos tourists during winter season". Daily News. 10 October 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  13. ^ Goldfield, Hannah (22 July 2022). "An Astonishing Array of Sri Lankan Specialties, at Queens Lanka". The New Yorker. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  14. ^ Lam, Francis (26 November 2014). "Sri Lankan Kottu Roti, by Way of Staten Island". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  15. ^ Kannangara, Yashasvi (21 August 2011). "Roti hunt". Sunday Times. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  16. ^ "Ultimate Guide to making Roti at home". SBS Television. 2 November 2021. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  17. ^ https://southeastasiabackpacker.com/koththu-roti-sri-lanka/[unreliable source?]
  18. ^ a b Taylor, G. (2017). MasterChef: Street Food of the World. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 214. ISBN 978-1-4729-4620-1. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  19. ^ a b Briggs, P. (2018). Sri Lanka. Bradt Travel Guide. Sri Lanka. Bradt Travel Guides. p. 54. ISBN 978-1-78477-057-0. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
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Media related to Kottu at Wikimedia Commons

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