Kottu Roti
Godamba roti chopped on a hot griddle with vegetables, egg and curry, in a rhythm of metal blades that you can hear from the street.
Photograph credit: Kottu Roti by Chamal N · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
Photograph credit: Kottu Roti (mit Meeresfrüchten) by Dankesie · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
Making Kottu Roti
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Cut the roti into strips with scissors and set them aside. Day-old roti is better than fresh — it holds its shape.
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Heat a large flat griddle or the widest pan you own over high heat with the coconut oil.
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Fry the onion, garlic, ginger, chillies and curry leaves for 2 minutes.
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Add the leek, carrot and pepper and stir fry 3 minutes — they should stay crisp.
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Push everything to one side, pour the beaten eggs onto the clear space and scramble them roughly.
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Add the chicken, curry powder, chilli powder and salt, and toss for 1 minute.
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Add the roti strips and the soy sauce.
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Now chop everything together on the griddle with two flat metal spatulas or a pair of heavy knives, in a steady rhythm, for 2 to 3 minutes, until the roti is in small pieces and everything is combined and searing.
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Pour the curry gravy around the edges of the pile and toss it through for 30 seconds only.
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Serve immediately with coriander and lime.
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Small Things That Help
- Chop it on the heat, not on a board. The searing as you cut is the point.
- Gravy last, and only a splash. Too much and it turns to porridge.
- Day-old roti. Fresh roti tears into mush.
Changing the Recipe
- Dried chilli flakes can stand in for the green chillies. Heat varies a great deal between chillies and between jars, so start with a small pinch and add more to taste.
- Lemon is the everyday swap for lime in this kind of dish — the acidity plays the same role even though the flavour is not identical.
- If you only have ground ginger, a quarter-teaspoon for each tablespoon of fresh is the ratio usually given; it tastes warmer and less bright than the fresh root.
What to Serve with Kottu Roti
- Extra curry gravy on the side
- A cold beer
- Lime wedges
Storing & Reheating Kottu Roti
Best immediately. Refrigerate up to 2 days and refry hard in a dry pan.
The Numbers per Serving
No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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