Chicken Kati roll

I love Kati rolls. I especially am a huge fan of the Frankies that they sell in little kiosks in Chennai. They’re great on-the-go food - fun and tasty. I make these for my husband’s lunch box some days. It’s quite simple really. Make rotis, make a thick, not-too-sloppy filling (you could use paneer, mixed veggies, potatoes, minced meat or chicken like in this recipe) and roll. That’s it. You can jazz these rolls up in several ways- layer beaten eggs for more punch, top with grated cheese (and let melt on tawa while cooking), season with spice powders, garnish with onions/green chillies, add fresh veggies and sauces (subway style). The options are endless. These are great lunch box food for kids. You could make bigger rolls, slice them in an oblong fashion like spring rolls and serve as party snacks also.

I made a chicken filling, you can substitute paneer in its place and reduce cooking time. I am afraid majority of my recipes are now chicken based. My family is to blame. They’re chicken crazy. I am a vegetarian majorly, would you believe? I am an occasional non-vegetarian, my husband is a compulsive non-vegetarian. To him, if it’s not chicken, it’s not food.

Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins
Serves: 2-3

Ingredients

Filling

Chicken – 1/4 kilo boneless, cleaned and cut into bite size pieces
Onion – 1 large chopped fine
Tomato – 1 large chopped fine
Ginger-garlic paste – 1 tsp
Green chilli – 1 chopped fine
Red chilli powder – 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil – 2 tbsp
Butter – 1 tsp
Eggs – 2 beaten with salt and black pepper powder

Roll

Wheat flour – 2 cups
Salt - ½ tsp
Water for kneading

Method

1.      Prepare the dough for the rotis by adding water little at a time to the wheat flour and kneading well. Knead till you get a smooth, soft, non-sticky dough. Cover and set aside.

2.      Break 2 eggs into a bowl, add salt and black pepper powder and beat well. Set aside.

3.      In a pan, heat oil, when hot add the ginger garlic paste and sauté for a minute. Then drop in the chopped onions. Save a handful of the chopped onions for garnishing later on. When the onions turn translucent, drop in the chopped tomatoes and fry for 1-2 minutes.

4.      Add the chicken pieces, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and salt. Mix well and cook covered for about 8-10 minutes or till the chicken is cooked through. Open and mix well and simmer for a few minutes till the oil separates. Then add the butter and stir well. Switch off and let cool.

5.      Make lemon sized balls from the dough. Roll out each ball into a round roti and cook on a tawa. If you’re going to serve these later, cook the rotis without oil till halfway cooked, and store. Before serving, place the half-cooked roti on the tawa, drizzle a little bit of oil on one side of the roti, then flip and pour about 1-2 tbsp of the egg mixture on the roti and spread with the spoon. Drizzle some more oil and let cook for about half a minute, flip egg-side down and cook for another half a minute. Remove on to a plate. Cook all the rotis this way.

6.      To assemble the kati rolls, spoon some chicken mixture on egg-side of the roti, sprinkle some finely chopped onions, just a dash of chopped chillies (optional) and roll tightly to make a roll. Place the roll, flap-side down on a piece of aluminium foil and roll tightly, while tucking in the foil at one end of the roll. Serve or pack in lunch box.

Notes

1.      I used wheat flour for the rotis. You could use equal portions of maida and wheat to replicate store like rolls.

2.      You could use butter paper to wrap the rolls instead of aluminium foil.