Chicken Kottu Roti
- Total Time
- 1 hour 15 minutes; 30 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1½pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs (about 6 thighs)
- 2teaspoons soy sauce
- 2teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- ½teaspoon kosher salt
- 3tablespoons Sri Lankan roasted curry powder
- 3½teaspoons Sri Lankan chile powder (or other medium-hot chile powder)
- 3tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1tablespoon minced ginger
- 4cloves garlic, sliced
- 1tablespoon minced pandan leaves (or to taste)
- 4curry leaves (or to taste)
- 2green cardamom pods
- 12-inch stick cinnamon
- 1small hot green chile, sliced
- 1medium red onion, thinly sliced
- 5ounces diced tomato
- 1cup coconut milk
- 1tablespoon cider vinegar
- Salt, to taste
- ½cup vegetable oil
- 2eggs, lightly beaten
- 2teaspoons finely minced ginger
- 1tablespoon chopped pandan leaves
- 10curry leaves
- 5scallions, cut in ½-inch pieces
- 1cup julienne carrots (about ¼ pound)
- 1medium red onion, diced
- 1teaspoon soy sauce
- Salt, to taste
- 1pound Sri Lankan roti, cut into ½ inch pieces (or other flaky flatbread, like Indian paratha)
- 2chicken thighs, curry, chopped
- ¾cup sauce from chicken curry
For the Curry Sauce
For the Kottu Roti
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Preparation
For the Curry
- Step 1
In a mixing bowl, combine the chicken, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, kosher salt, 1 tablespoon curry powder and 1½ teaspoons chile powder. Marinate 30 minutes to overnight.
- Step 2
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the ginger, and sizzle about 20 seconds. Add garlic, pandan leaves, curry leaves, cardamom and cinnamon. Cook, stirring, until the ginger and garlic are golden brown. Add chile, onion and a generous pinch of salt. Stir until the onion is softened and translucent, 3 minutes. Add remaining curry and chile powders, and cook, until darkened and aromatic. Stir in tomato.
- Step 3
Add chicken, coconut milk and enough water to cover, about 1 cup. Bring to a boil, and add the vinegar and salt to taste (you may not need it). Simmer, partly covered, for 35 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked through. Reserve for kottu roti. Leftover curry may be frozen.
For the Kottu Roti
- Step 4
Heat a large, well-seasoned cast-iron pan or wok over high heat with 2 tablespoons of oil. When the oil just starts to smoke, add the eggs, and scramble them until cooked dry. Transfer to a bowl, and wipe the pan clean. (Alternatively, you can scramble them in a nonstick pan.)
- Step 5
Return the pan to medium heat. Add 3 tablespoons of oil and ginger. When it is aromatic, add pandan and curry leaves, and cook, stirring, until the ginger is light golden, 20 seconds. Add scallions and carrots. Stir for 1 minute, then add onion. Cook, stirring, until onion has only a little snap, about 3 minutes. Add the soy sauce and salt to taste, and remove to a bowl. Wipe the pan out.
- Step 6
Return pan to medium heat, and add the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil. (If the flatbread you are using is very oily, use less oil in the pan.) When it’s shimmering hot, add roti, and stir until it feels dry and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add chicken, cooked vegetables and eggs. Add the curry sauce, and continue to stir until hot all the way through. Taste, add more salt or soy sauce if necessary and serve.
- Feel free to add or omit seasonings.
Private Notes
Comments
Haven't tried it yet, but a search for pandan indicates that it is also called screw pine, otherwise known as kewra. Kewra water is available at Indian groceries, so I may try that as a substitute.
Would have been nice to have a recipe for Sri Lankan curry powder, but easily found on the Internet.
As a substitute to roti, I have used wraps. Cut each wrap in thin long strips like fetuccine.
One of the great culinary experiences is to watch the cooks in little hole-in-the wall eating outlets in Sri Lanka prepare this dish. A secret is to keep chopping and mixing the ingredients, roti, egg and gravy on the griddle and then chop the chicken pieces in as they are added. The result is a delectable mix of spices, vegies, roti and protein. A real crowd favourite. Frozen pandan leaves can be found at Asian stores.
There is a version of this in Sri Lanka that uses "String Hoppers" instead of roti. I used thin Thai Rice Noodles as a substitute. Break the noodles into pieces before mixing it. Tastes authentic and not as heavy as the roti version. I bet thin egg noodles would work as well.
Absolutely fantastic recipe! It really took me back to my trip to Sri Lanka and the little restaurant in Ella where this dish was introduced to my partner and I. I found a recipe elsewhere for roasted Sri Lankan curry powder which was an extra step, but I think it’s worth it. The pandan comes in a quantity that is far too much for just this dish, so I used it to make a pandan extract which I used to also make coconut pandan ice cream and pandan simple syrup for cocktails.
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