Kottu
 Chicken kottu roti
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| Alternative names | Kothu roti, kothu parotta, kottu |
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| Course | Main course |
| Place of origin | Sri Lanka |
| Serving temperature | Hot |
| Main ingredients | Roti, egg, onion, chilli pepper |
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Kottu roti (Tamil: கொத்து ரொட்டி; Sinhala: කොත්තු රොටි), alternatively spelled kothu roti, is a Sri Lankan dish consisting of chopped roti, a meat curry dish of choice (such as mutton, beef, seafood, chicken, or pork), along with scrambled egg, onions, and chillies. A variation of the dish is found in the south Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, known as kothu parotta (Tamil: கொத்து பரோட்டா), which is made using parotta instead of roti. Kottu roti can also be found internationally in restaurants in regions containing Tamil, Sinhalese and Malayali diaspora populations.
History
The word koththu means "to chop" in Tamil, referring to its method of preparation, as the ingredients are commonly chopped together using special cleavers, whilst they sauté on a hot griddle. This has been simplified in Tamil and Sinhalese to Kothu or Kottu respectively. It is generally thought to have originated as street food in the eastern Tamil regions of Trincomalee or Batticaloa in the 1960s/1970s, as an inexpensive meal for the lower socio-economic classes. The basic roti is made of Gothamba flour, a wheat flour made out of a variety of grains-referring to the white flour, also known as "wheat roti" in Sinhala and "veechu parotta", "veechu roti" in Tamil.
Another origin theory claims that the dish was created as kothu parotta in Madurai, India, where it is made using parotta from Maida, which is called bleached flour in areas outside South Asia.
Preparation
Kottu, is made up of paratha or wheat flour roti, which is cut into small pieces or ribbons. Then on a heated iron sheet or griddle, vegetables and onions are fried. Eggs, cooked meat, or fish are added to fried vegetables and heated for a few minutes. Finally, the pieces of cut paratha are added. These are chopped and mixed by repeated pounding using heavy iron blades/spatula, the sound of which is very distinctive and can usually be heard from a long distance. Depending upon what ingredients are used, the variations are vegetable, egg, chicken, beef, mutton, and fish kottu roti. It is often prepared and served as a fast food dish.