Learning from Srilankan Kutto
Srilankan Kutto was a new discovery for me in NYC a few weeks ago at Kottuhouse.
A street food composed of shredded flatbread, curry, vegetables and eggs. Tastes strangely like South Asian flavored stir-fried wide noodles. The dish showed me that shredded bread can a be wonderful new technique. The dish would be a perfect way to use up leftover curries or stretch a curry. It is infinitely adjustable too. Leave the meat out, add more veggies, cut the spice, add spice, make is soft, make it dry etc. My hungryphil jr. daughter, Atiya, suggested adding a fried egg on top (instead of mixed in). This way the runny yolk could dress and soften the bread too. It would be a perfect brunch bowl. The dish recomposes a traditional hand scooped plate of curry and bread to become a spoon and bowl friendly dry dish. Same flavors, altered form. I’m excited about using the technique for any leftover curry or chili, or stew. Here is the standard I was working from.
http://www.srilankanrecipes.info/recipes/RiceDishes/KoththuRoti.aspx
http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017015-chicken-kottu-roti
Here is what I did:
- Made a quick chicken curry (diced chicken thighs, diced tomatoes, paprika, ginger, garlic, turmeric, coriander, onion, garam masala and vinegar) or you could just use your favorite curry powder.
- Shredded three store bought parathas (flat bread from the frozen section of an Indian grocery store) into small 1/4 in pieces. Any unleavened flat bread should work.
- Saute sliced onions and green chilies in a wok.
- Added a cup of shredded cabbage and carrots from a bag. Coleslaw bag.
- Added two eggs.
- Added shredded bread.
- Added enough curry to moisten the bread. You can always serve more curry on top.
It didn’t taste as moist as Kuttohouse but was still very much like a stir-fried flavorful spicy noodle dish.
Try ripping up your flatbread and tossing it with something in a hot wok! It gives “bread bowls” a whole new meaning.
Wishing you happy taste experiments,
hungryphil
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