Vegetable kottu roti, a vegetarian recipe

Name: Vegetable kottu roti
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Sri Lanka
Ingredients: 5 plain roti or paratha, preferably a day old; 300 g white cabbage, finely shredded; 1 carrot, coarsely grated; 1 leek, white part only, thinly sliced; 1 onion, sliced; 2 garlic cloves, chopped; 3 eggs, beaten; 2 tsp curry powder; 200 ml curry sauce or thin dhal; 3 tbsp vegetable oil; 1 green chilli, sliced; Salt and pepper

Method

Stack the roti and cut into 1 cm strips, then across into squares. Set aside.
Heat the oil in a large wok or on a griddle over high heat. Fry the onion, garlic and chilli for 2 minutes.
Add the leek, carrot and cabbage and stir-fry for 4 minutes; the vegetables should stay crisp.
Push everything to one side, pour in the beaten eggs, scramble them quickly, then mix through.
Add the roti and curry powder, season, and toss for 3 minutes to heat everything through.
Pour in the curry sauce and chop the mixture with your spatula for 2 minutes, clattering against the pan, until evenly combined and slightly moist.
Serve straight away, piping hot, with extra curry sauce on the side.

In Sri Lankan shops you hear kottu before you see it: two metal blades chopping against the griddle. At home two sturdy spatulas do the same job. Leave out the egg and the dish is vegan.

The techniques this recipe uses

Sweat the aromatics
Medium heat, no browning: the onion should turn translucent and sweet, not toasted.

Frequently asked questions

Why does the recipe call for day-old roti?

Fresh roti is soft and damp: chopped and then wetted with curry sauce, it turns to mush. Slightly stale roti keeps its shredded strands and soaks up sauce without falling apart. If yours are fresh, leave them uncovered for an hour before cutting.

How do I make this kottu vegan?

Just leave out the three eggs: the dish still holds together, because the roti and the curry sauce are what bind it. To replace the soft texture, crumble in firm tofu and sear it at the same stage the eggs would go in.

Can I make this without a wok, in an ordinary frying pan?

Yes, but cook it in two batches. Kottu depends on fierce heat and direct contact with hot metal; an overloaded pan drops in temperature and the vegetables stew in their own water instead of frying. Use your widest pan and two sturdy spatulas to chop the mixture.

Vegetable kottu roti

Method

The techniques this recipe uses

This recipe also appears in

Nutrition per serving

Frequently asked questions

Have you cooked this dish?

More recipes from Sri Lanka

Lunu Miris

Kiribath

Pol sambol

Recipes in the same spirit