Indian Chicken Kati Rolls

[gweixel]

I am trying to find a recipe for what i have had described in indian restaurants as a "kati roll." it is a paratha bread wrap with cubed grilled chicken with tandoor or tandoor like seasonings, sauteed onions, lime juice, chilli paste... thats basically my best guess. ive tried to make it and the result is ok but im definitely mising something. If anyone knows what im referring to and has ideas for the recipe id really appreciate it!!!

thanks.

[TongoRad]

I assume you mean chicken tikka kati rolls- here's how I would do it:

Use boneless, skinless thighs. Lay on a sheet pan and sprinkle with lemon juice and salt, let marinate (refrigerated) for half an hour or so. Meanwhile make up a paste of onion/ginger/chiles, schmear it over the chicken and then cover it all with yogurt. This should sit overnight, at least. When you are ready to grill the chicken remove as much of the marinade as you can and then give it a light sprinkling of garam masala before skewering.

To serve (most places use roti, but one place I used to go to made these huge sandwiches in freshly made naan) chop up the chicken tikka, put it in the roti with onions, fresh coriander chutney, a squeeze of lime and maybe some chiles- roll it up and enjoy.

Could you describe what you are doing in more detail? It sounds like your marinade is just a spice rub and you are not using the coriander chutney (which is my favorite part).

[v. gautam]

I assume you mean chicken tikka kati rolls- here's how I would do it:

Use boneless, skinless thighs. Lay on a sheet pan and sprinkle with lemon juice and salt, let marinate (refrigerated) for half an hour or so. Meanwhile make up a paste of onion/ginger/chiles, schmear it over the chicken and then cover it all with yogurt. This should sit overnight, at least. When you are ready to grill the chicken remove as much of the marinade as you can and then give it a light sprinkling of garam masala before skewering.

To serve (most places use roti, but one place I used to go to made these huge sandwiches in freshly made naan) chop up the chicken tikka, put it in the roti with onions, fresh coriander chutney, a squeeze of lime and maybe some chiles- roll it up and enjoy.

Could you describe what you are doing in more detail? It sounds like your marinade is just a spice rub and you are not using the coriander chutney (which is my favorite part).

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Here is how kathi roll would be prepared in Calcutta, say at Nizam's, one of the best-known places for this. More or less the above, with the following modifications:

You can use breast or thighs, according to your preference.

Make up your own garam masala if you wish: lightly roast small amount of coriander seed & cumin seed, add several whole green cardamoms, cinnamon/cassia bark, cloves, a few pepper corns to the hot pan. Let cool and grind in a coffee grinder dedicated for Indian spices.

Grill over coals, brushing with butter. You may add some crushed fenugreek leaves [dry kasuri methi] to the butter if you happen to have them. The leaves char and give a nice smoky aroma. Remember this when you make tandoori chicken!

The major distinguishing feature of the Nizam kathi roll is a supple, chewy paratha cooked with one or two eggs, the kababs, the thin sliced shreds red onions and thai type green chilies slit lengthwise, the lime juice, a sprinkling of kabab masala. NO cilantro, NO chutney.

You don't have the paratha, but a tortilla will do, especially a 100% whole wheat tortilla 10 inches or larger. Do not use the frozen ROTI PRATA made in Malaysia-- too greasy and soft for this. Please get some good ghee, and your mise-en-place ready. Your eggs, 2 large per tortilla, break into a many small bowls as you will have tortillas and beat very lightly so that the whites and yolks are not fully combined.

You will have your skewers of kabab ready, they can be warm. Onions sliced, soaked in cold water if you prefer to make them milder, drained & spun dry. Thai green chilies, or mix them w/ Anaheim for milder palates, cut in long strips. Lime freshly cut to preserve fragrance. Some MDH chaat masala if you care for that. Your GHEE. Spatulas, big plates, butcher paper. 2 skillets one just fitting the tortilla size, second one larger, preferably non-stick.

A good seasoned cast-iron skillet or a high quality non-stick skillet comes in handy now. This first skillet is the form-hugging one. Heat it up, lightly toast the tortilla, both sides. Now add a LITTLE ghee and maintan temperature control of stove/ skillet handle and your cool. Flip on both sides, and watch light chestnut brown areas developing and a toasty aroma enveloping you. Stir the egg [note, i have added no salt] and expertly slosh it onto the tortilla face.

Here, the size of the tortilla vis-a-vis the skillet, your manual dexterity etc. will be called into play. In Calcutta, the large tava is slightly concave, and the paratha is moved around to various heat zones to take advantage of topography while the egg sets, amidst copious lashings of ghee. You & I cannot do all that. We can wait until the egg is semi-set and flip it over into a SECOND WAITING hot, ghee-greased skillet. Don't overcook. Seconds. The egg must have streaky white and yellow zones and pick up sufficient hot ghee but not too much!! It should not become a omelette sitting on the tortilla. The expert would break 1- 2 eggs on the bread and mess it around just so. You can do that when you are confident.

The rolling asembly is done on the tava but a warmed plate and a second pair of hands may be welcome here. As soon as the egged tortilla reaches the plate, preferably on a large sheet of butcher paper cut to size, a skewer of kabab will be pulled off down its length, followed by a sprinkle of kabab or chaat masala, chilies, onion, lime juice.

The bottom is folded up with some paper, then one side with its share of paper is used to roll the thing into a neat tight package with the top showing. You tear off strips of paper as you keep biting downwards. The paper protects your finger from grease and heat.

You can do this with lamb or chevon, (that is preferable) but the meat must be cut in ribbons. If you are in NJ, find a South Asian Halal butcher and ask him to cut meat for kathi kabab. What i described to you is called a double anda double mutton. If you are in Calcutta go to Nizam's and order this, available every day but Thursday. Chicken is for the birds. Trust me on this. Kathi roll gained its rekown from the Nizam's original. There is the baida roti from Mumba, but all the buzz today comes primarily because of the Calcutta connection. In India, it has become a signature Calcutta food. No Naan, no chutney, no cilantro, no chopping of the meat, remember that.

We can discuss at length the spicing & fattiness of the meat, but that might overwhelm you at this point. But the egg, and the ghee-roasted tortilla are a must to enoying the true flavor of the kathi roll. Otherwise it would just be a wrap around some kabab, would it not?

gautam

[Eastgate]

Can you envision a way to scale this to an app or tapa course? I'm just back from Kolkata and those Kati rolls sure are something to write home about, but I'm worried about balancing a meal. And it's easier to cover disaster if an app blows up!