Kottu Roti is a popular comfort cum street
food in Sri Lanka. When you are strolling around in Sri Lankan streets, you
cannot miss the sight, sounds and aroma of kottu. Kottu literally means “chop”.
It’s made with flat bread called “Gothamba roti” mixed with meat, spicy gravy,
and vegetables. Kottu is blended
together in a heated iron sheet using blunt metal blades. Clashing of metal
creates a distinctive sound. This sound and aroma of kottu will invite any
passerby to stop and indulge in this mouthwatering meal.
I first learnt to make this at home from my Aunt,
who prepares roti and everything at home from scratch. I’m not a good roti
maker. I’ve never been successful in my previous attempts and also I'm not a big
fan of wheat flour. That’s why you find most of my recipes “Gluten-free”. As a Sri Lankan Tamil from North, I’m used to preparing meals with red rice flour and
millet flour instead of wheat flour. These are low glycemic as well.
So for this meal I bought 'Roti Canai' (Malaysian name for pararatha’s), shredded them into thin
strips, mixed it with spicy sauce made with onion, garlic, soy sauce and curry
powder and added vegetables. When you are not making paratha’s at home which
is a time consuming job, you can assemble this meal in 10-15 minutes.
You can ask for flaky parathas (flat bread) from
Indian / Sri Lankan / Pakistani restaurants or “Roti Canai” from Malaysian
Restaurants.
