Kottu Roti

Kottu mixes pieces of flatbread with vegetables, egg and curry in a pan. Roshani Wickramasinghe’s chicken version uses ready Ceylon parotta and her linked chicken curry, with carrot, the white and green parts of leek, tomato and chilli.

The author places kottu among Sri Lanka’s street foods and favours a large wok for the home preparation. Her chicken curry supplies both meat and gravy, with the gravy worked through the bread pieces as they are broken up and mixed.

For the linked curry, chicken thighs are marinated with turmeric, black pepper, salt and a paste made from tamarind and water. Ground cardamom and cloves, crushed ginger and garlic, curry leaves, pandan, roasted powders, goraka, onion and tomato flavour the coconut-oil base; chicken and the main water then simmer, followed by finishing salt and black pepper.

In the kottu wok, the separate listed cooking oil heats minced ginger, garlic and white leek rings. Chicken taken from the curry is broken up and lightly browned, then an egg is scrambled in the centre and mixed through. Onion and sliced chillies follow, then carrot is fried before the diced tomato and salt are added.

The ready parotta pieces and green leek slices join next. After high-heat mixing, gravy from the same chicken curry is added and the heat reduced; the bread and vegetables are broken up further while the curry is worked through them.