July 18, 2007

Kottu Paratha



Kottu Paratha comes from Trichi in Tamilnadu. We have a South Indian Restaurant, Tower India Restaurant at a walking distance from my place and they make such excellent South Indian food, basically that guy is from Madurai (Temple town) and he makes sure that we get authentic food. I went there millions of times and I still love going there. The best part about them is the food tastes completely home made, not much oily but very very tasty.

We ate Kottu Paratha at this place for the first time and kept eating every time we went there. My husband used to order this and I order Gunpowder Masala Dosa and their buffet is equally good with a variety of items.

I tried Kottu Paratha last year at home and it came out exactly the same way they make at the restaurant. Since then, I stopped ordering there and I make this at home whenever I make chapatis. I keep some 4-5 chapatis aside to make this next day for lunch.

You need...

4-5 medium sized chapatis, shredded
1 medium onion, chopped
2 roma tomatoes, chopped
1/2 medium beefsteak tomato, chopped
2 red chillies
2 green chillies, chopped
1 tsp jeera
1/2 tsp rai
1 tsp garam masala
cilantro for garnishing
salt to taste
a pinch of turmeric

  1. Heat oil in cooking pan, add cumin and rai and wait until they splutter.
  2. Add red chillies, green chilies, onion and fry until brown.
  3. Add tomatoes and keep mixing until tomotoes are cooked.
  4. Add turmeric, salt and garam masala.
  5. Add shredded chapati and mix again for 2-3 minutes until the masala is all coated to chapati pieces.
  6. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with Raita.

I make variations whenever I make this recipe. I add some boiled Chana or Chole, sometimes I add Paneer and this time I added Govar/Gokarkaya/Cluster Beans. In case you plan to add beans, boil them and add them before adding tomatoes and fry them with onions for sometime.


23 comments:

trupti said...

Oh, Nice! I remember eating at Tower restaurant in Raleigh....its so nice, I love their Rasam too!

Kottu Paratha looks like an easy fix for dinner for me!

Mythili said...

OOhhh... i must bookmark this recipe ... nice quick fix dinner with leftover chapatis too..

good one.

bee said...

yours really looks like the restaurant version. it's a nice variation from the usual dinnertime meals.

Manasi said...

Oh.. this is kinda like 'fodnichi poli' in Maharashtrian cuisine- cpe that we do not use tomato..! I love this!!! Thanx for ur version... must try!

Roopa said...

lata the dish looks awesome, here in most of the resturants they sell with a big price tag... ha ha at first was quite amazed by the dish then i came to know what it was about... but tastes very good :)

Suganya said...

I love kothu parata. I add a tbsp of tomato paste for that creamy tanginess :)

I dint know it came from Trichy. And secondly, what is gunpowder masala? I have heard abt it though..

Laavanya said...

I love kothu paratha but make them with the frozen parathas that you get here. I must try it with chapathis like you've done. Healthier this way.

Jyothi said...

Hi Lata, looks delicious. Never heard about this dish. Thanks for sharing.

TheCooker said...

Like Manasi said, this looks similar to the phodni(tadka)chi poli. You version looks like a nice variation. I will definitely be trying it.

Srivalli said...

nice one...btw any variety of tomatoes can be added right...

Srivalli
www.cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com

Meeta said...

This is a very interesting dish. Looks totally scrumptious. In Dubai where my parents live there is also a fantastic South Indian place - I think the next time I visit. (October) I will give this a try!

Lata said...

Trupti,

Yeah, you are absolutely right, their rasam is too good.

Manasi and friend from (the cooker)
I really didn't know about this Maharastrian variety, name sounds so cute. Can you make and try to post it in the blog, that way we will all know. Thanks btw.

Valli,

It is better not to use juicy tomatoes, that's why I said 2 roma and 1 beefsteak tomato because little juice is OK to coat the chapatis but not much. It might become mushy.

Meeta,

Do try it and you will like it.


Mythili, Bee, Roopa, Laavanya, Meeta.

Thanks for your comments.

Asha said...

Lata,yesterday I was thinking about this dish I saw in the restaurant! Looks delicious.I thought I had to make Parathas.Chapatis are easy.I will try one of these days.Thanks Lata,hugs:)

Shashisaid...

Nice!! Will definitely try it out.

Ever since I moved to this area, I hear people saying Tower restaurant is good, but I was hesistant to go because restaurants dissapoint me. Now that I heard from you that it is good, I will definitely go there soon. Thanks!!

Lata said...

Asha,

I don't know, this worked fine with me for chapatis. Try it out.

Shashi,

Do meet me when you come to Tower, I can join you. It is walkable distance from my place. Then, we can go to our place.

And I agree with you, there are very few good restaurants in this area. Did you try Azitra? it is good too, but go for dinner.

shammi said...

The first time I ate kothu parotta was at Saravana Bhavan in Madras, and after that I found it SO difficult to try anything else there. It's SUCH a yummy dish! Yours looks very very VERY hotel-authentic. :)

Avany said...

Hi Latha,

I got so excited when i saw this post in food blog desam. I also order the same kattu paratha every time i go to tower indian. I love it so much. I tried to recreate it once. it wasn't so good. I will definitely try your version most probably today.

if you just fry for 2 to 3 minutes after you add chapathis won't it be too dry? your photo looks perfect like tower indian's. Do I need to add more water and close the lid for chapathi pieces to get moist and soft?

I love their besibela bath too.
Thanks for the post.
Avany

Shashisaid...

Cool!!! I would love to meet you at the restaurant. I sent an email earlier to sweetcastle@gmail.com. Do you get the mails sent to that address? Let me know if you have an alternate email and I will let you know when I go to the restaurant. I look forward to meeting a fellow hyderabadi and a wonderful cook.

Lata said...

Hi Avany,

The thing is you can use your best judgement. I cooked the whole thing in just 20 minutes. And it became moist in just 1 or 2 minutes. You don't have to add water. Don't.

I always see the ingredients of the recipe and try remaining cooking on my own, so it is upto the individual choice to make it whatever we want. But, this worked for me. Let me know how it works for you. Also I saw your profile, I am waiting to see your blog.


Shashi,

Yes, mails do come there and I saw yours, never found time to reply. Actually I don't get to see my mails at office and after going home, I get tired to check those mails. Will try to reply you.

Raaga said...

We are thinking about the same things!

http://chefatwork.blogspot.com/2007/07/kothu-roti.html

marriedtoadesi.com said...

Awesome recipe. I am seriously going to try this one out. I think the hubby will be impressed!

Kanchana

Jennifer said...

My mouth is watering! I have made a similar dish using bread pieces, potato and variety of spices, I guess that originated in Maharashtra. Thanks for posting! Wish we had the same south Indian hotel in our area!

Anonymoussaid...

CAN I JUST POINT OUT THAT THIS DISH IS CALLED KOTTU PARATHA NOT KOTTU CHAPATI.....SO ER I THINK YOU ARE PROBABLY SUPPOSED TO USE PARATHA AREN'T YOU????

 
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