Kati Rolls

I had Kati rolls a couple of times in all my life. The first time was at a road side shop accompanied by the soothing breeze of the Besant Nagar Beach in Chennai. The second time was at the famous Eat Street in Hyderabad, overlooking the Hussain Sagar lake. We had gone with K’s very close cousins and had a gala time stuffing ourselves and chattering away, oblivious of the ever-polluted Hussain Sagar.

All I remembered about the Kati Rolls was that was that the taste was very familiar and it was something that could be easily and comfortably created at home. My search for a good recipe ended as soon as Google yielded veteran blogger Nupur’s recipe for Paneer Kati Rolls. My Kati Rolls are heavily inspired by Nupur, both in terms of ingredients and presentation, however I have mildly tweaked it to suit my taste. Here is my recipe.

Ingredients (makes 4 Kati rolls)

For the curry:
Paneer: a little over ½ cup, cubed
Potato (medium): 1 No
Red capsicum: ½ of a big one (this is just to add a lovely red colour)
Green capsicum: ½ of a big one
Onions: 1 big
Tomato: 1 medium
Ginger: 1 cm, grated
Garlic: 1 pod, grated
Chilli powder: 1 tsp (or to taste)
Turmeric powder: ¼ tsp
Chaat masala: 1 tsp
Kasuri methi: 1 tsp
Salt: to taste
Oil: 1 – 2 tbsp
Lemon juice: 1- 2 tsps (optional)

For the salad:
Carrot, cucumber, onions (chopped longish): ¾ cupCorriander leaves (chopped): 1 tbsp
Rotis needed: 4 Nos.

Method:

Chop all the vegetables in a chunky fashion and set aside.
Heat oil in a kadai and start tossing the ginger and garlic.
Follow with onions and fry for a couple of minutes.
Then add the tomato, potato, red and green capsicums.
Do not add any water to the curry since we are trying to make a thick dry curry.
The water in the vegetables would leave out enough juices to cook the vegetables.
Add a lid to cook faster if you feel the vegetables are not getting cooked properly.
Add salt, turmeric powder and the chilli powder.
When it is almost done, add the paneer, kasuri methi and the chaat masala.
Toss well and cook for 1 – 2 minutes.
If you feel it is bland, add the lemon juice, chaat masala and chilli powder and adjust the taste to suit your tastebuds.
Keep the curry aside.

To assemble the Kati rolls:

If using left-over chapati, just toss it over a hot tava for a minute. Keep the four rotis ready.
Spread a single chapatti on a plate.
Place a generous amount of the filling in the center.
Top it with some salad.
Fold the two sides.
Roll with some butter paper or foil.

Kati rolls are ready to be enjoyed as a picnic food, or for an evening snack or even dinner!

These Kati Rolls are my contribution to this week's Bookmarked Recipes every Tuesday, started by Priya Mitharwal and hosted by Aipi of US Masala, 'Anyone can cook Series - 4' event hosted by Taste of Pearl City and Vegetarian Foodie Fridays #22