Chicken Kottu Roti is a traditional Sri Lankan recipe for a national dish of roti pieces, vegetables, eggs and curry sauce with roti pieces that's a staple of street food. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Sri Lankan version of: Chicken Kottu Roti.
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Chicken kottu (also spelled koththu or kothu) — The best and the most popular Sri Lankan street food and probably the most popular Sri Lankan food in the world. It's a mix of roti pieces, some vegetables, eggs, and a curry sauce. Chicken curry in this case.
Ingredients:
For the Chicken Curry:
200g Chicken Thigh Meat
1 tsp Coriander Seeds
1 tsp Black Onion (kalonji/nigella) Seeds
½ tsp Black Peppercorns
¼ tsp Fennel Seeds
¼ tsp Cumin Seeds
1 Small Shallot
4 Garlic Cloves
1/2 thumb-sized piece of Ginger
10cm length of Cinnamon
1 Black Cardamom Pod
12 Curry Leaves
6 Dried Kashmiri Chillies
½ tsp Kashmiri Chilli Powder
¼ tsp ground Turmeric
¼ tsp Brown Sugar
½ tsp Salt
1 tbsp Ghee
1 tbsp Tomato Puree
165ml Tin Coconut Milk
For the Kottu:
200g Roti, Paratha or Chapati (godamba roti is traditional)
1 Small Green bell Pepper
100g Cabbage
100g Red Onion
1 tbsp Ghee
2 Eggs
Pinch of Coarse Sea Salt
Fresh Coriander leaves, to garnish
Green Finger Chillies, to Garnish
Method:
Begin by preparing the curry (this can be done several days in advance): Slice the chicken thigh meat into 5-7mm thick strips.
Add the coriander seeds, onion seeds, peppercorns, fennel seeds and cumin seeds to a dry 25cm diameter frying pan set over medium heat, and toast them for a minute or two, then grind them in a pestle and mortar or spice grinder.
Cut the shallot in half, peel it and then cut it into thin half-moon shapes. Peel the garlic and mash it to a paste; adding a pinch of salt helps with this process. Peel the ginger and grate it.
Bash the cardamom pod with the side of a knife to crack it a little. Place a 25cm frying pan over a medium-high heat and when it is hot, add the ghee and the shallots, frying them for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the tomato purée, cook for 1 minute, stirring and mashing it to cook out the raw flavour.
Add the curry leaves, dried Kashmiri chillies, cinnamon bark, black cardamom pod, garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Add the chicken, the ground seeds, salt, turmeric, chilli powder and brown sugar, then cook for 3-4 minutes, tossing and stirring regularly.
Pour in the coconut milk, stir to combine, reduce the heat to low, add a lid and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the lid, turn the heat up to medium-high and cook for 3-5 minutes to reduce the sauce a little.
For the Kottu: Roll the roti fairly tightly into a "sausage" shape, then cut them into strips about 5-7mm wide.
Remove the stem and seeds from the green bell pepper and cut it into strips the same width as the roti.
Finely shred the cabbage. Cut the red onion in half, peel it and then finely slice it. Chop the coriander for the garnish topping, use as much as you like!
Slice the green chillies for the garnish topping; again, use as many as you like. Beat the eggs in a small mixing bowl.
Just before you start cooking, remove the cinnamon and cardamom pod from the curry and discard them.
Heat a large (30cm diameter) pan over a high heat. When it is hot, add the ghee followed by the eggs.
When the eggs have almost set, add the green bell pepper, cabbage and onion, and using 2 large spoons, chop the egg with the vegetables, almost stir-frying them as you go.
Add the curry you made earlier, stir and cook until it has heated through, try not to break the egg up too much.
Finally, add the roti pieces and the salt, and stir until it is combined and heated through.
Remove from the heat and garnish with some extra sliced red onion, green chillies and coriander leaves.
