Kottu roti

As tradition built it

Serves 4. 20 minutes, plus making the roti.

Ingredients

• 4 godhamba roti (layered flatbread), torn or chopped into strips
• 200 g chicken, beef or vegetables, cooked and diced
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 1 leek or spring onion, sliced
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 tbsp roasted curry powder
• A ladle a ladle of curry gravy, from any curry in this chapter
• To taste salt

Method

1. Heat a large flat griddle or wide pan with a little oil. Fry the onion, carrot and leek until softened.
2. Push the vegetables aside, pour in the beaten egg, and scramble briefly.
3. Add the chopped roti and cooked meat or vegetables, and, using two flat metal blades or spatulas, chop and toss everything together vigorously and continuously on the hot griddle, the rhythmic chopping motion that gives the dish its name.
4. Season with the curry powder and salt, and moisten with a ladle of curry gravy, tossing until everything is evenly coated and heated through.
5. Serve immediately, straight from the griddle.

What a modern chef changes

A gravy built specifically for this dish, not simply a leftover, and a chop that actually does the job the sound effect now fakes.

Rung 1

Method

1. Reduce a portion of curry gravy specifically for this dish, concentrated further than it would be for eating alone, so it coats the roti rather than making the pan wet.
2. Roast the curry powder used here fresh, per Rung 1, since kottu's high heat and short cooking time give a stale, unroasted powder nowhere to hide.
3. Chop with real metal blades on real contact with the hot griddle, rather than relying on a pre-recorded chopping sound, since the genuine mechanical action, not just the noise, is what breaks the roti into the right texture and helps sear it against the metal.