Koththu roti - Ammi's version of it

Koththu roti - photo credit Pearl of Indian Ocean - Ceylon Facebook page with permission

 

Koththu roti is a very common Sri Lankan food which is made using chopped up Godamba rotis (thin flour based roti tissues) chopped up finely, a handful of vegetables, fish, chicken or meat and the addition of an egg or two and a few sauces.  It has its origins in Malaysia I am sure as Godamba rotis are a version of the Malaysian roti tissue. However, it is now a Sri Lankan dish and we all love it.

Makinng Godamba rotis and then making Koththu is the correct way to do it but I don't have the time nor the patience to do it. So I have derived the easy or the cheat's way to do it.

I use wraps from the supermarket as a fair substitute. The thinner the wraps are, the better. I also don't own one of those metal trays that are traditionally used to make koththu which makes the Koththu sounds when the Koththu cooks make a racket with two cutters that they use to mix everything up.

Traditional way to make Koththu - Photo credit Pearl of the Indian Ocean - Ceylon (with permission)
 

I use my faithful wok to create koththu and although the sound is missing, normally when I make koththu, not a morsel will be left over with my family and friends.

This is my trusted recipe to make Koththu Roti at home especially if you live outside of Sri Lanka and have no access to buying Godamba rotis.

These days, we are able to buy Godamba rotis in packets of 4 or 5 for about $5 in Auckland shops. We even have a Roti Hut opened by a Sri Lankan but not everyone may have access to it as we did a few years ago.

Ingredients:

Serves 4-6

4-6 wraps (the kind that are used to make rolled wraps), cut them into fine pieces with kitchen scissors (about 1" (3 cm) in length and 1/4 " 1 cm) in width or as fine as you can or if you can find them 5-6 plain godamba rotis cut into pieces

2 boiled potatoes, cut into small cubes
2 boiled carrots, cut into small cubes
1 leek chopped finely
1 red and 1 green capsicum or banana chillies (maalu miris) if you can get them, cut into long strips
a handful of cabbage leaves cut finely
1-2 tomatoes chopped
2 red or white onions, sliced finely
3-4 green chillies sliced
a handful of curry leaves
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 small piece of ginger, peeled and grated or crushed
Cooked chicken/ beef or fish (you can use left over curry as I do, cut into bite sized pieces)
4 eggs, whisked lightly and seasoned with salt and pepper
a choice of any sauces that you have : tomato/chilli/soy/fish/Worcester sauce
about 3 tbsps. oil + an additional 1 tbsp.
salt, ground black pepper and chili powder to taste (about 1 tsp each if you must want exactly quantities)


Method:

Heat oil in wok and swirl around to cover the sides. When hot, add the curry leaves and the onions and green chillies and sauté for a minute. Add the ginger garlic pastes, and stir fry till the onion is transparent but not brown. Then add the leeks and stir fry for another minute and then the other vegetables and fry on high heat for a minute or so. Add the potatoes and carrots and then the chopped up wraps or roti pieces. Lastly add the tomatoes. Stir fry using two spoons or fish slices quickly. Add the fish or meat or omit it for vegetarian koththu.

Make a space in the centre of the wok and pour the extra 1 tbsp. oil into this. Let it heat for a few seconds.  Add the eggs into this space and quickly stir fry to lightly scramble egg. Then mix it all up and season with any sauces and check seasoning. Add more salt, chili powder and pepper if you want more spice.

Serve immediately and enjoy.

Ammi's tips:

• I serve it as dinner but you can use it as a snack or a weekend lunch. Left overs, if any, make a lovely lunchbox.
• There are no hard and fast rules about the vegetables you use. Use whatever is in your fridge. Its a great dish to use those odds and ends in the vegetable compartment of a fridge. I have used mushrooms, courgettes, beans, tomatoes etc. with great results.
• If you are using just bland  cooked meat, add a spoon of curry powder
• Usually when I buy a packet of wraps usually one or two could be left over. If this happens, I chop it up and put into a freezer bag and use frozen bits of wraps for koththu on days when I don't feel like doing much cooking.