Kottu

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Kottu, or Kottu Roti is a Sri Lankan dish, made from a Sri Lankan pancake called "Godhamba Roti" and Vegetables, Egg, and/or Meat, and various spices. A delicious hot kottu can be found in almost all parts of Sri Lanka, and is generally eaten as a dinner meal. The most common varieties of Kottu are beef or chicken, with egg and vegetable Kottus also available for vegetarians. A new ingredient, cheese, has only recently been introduced but already has a strong following and seems to be becoming a mainstay.

It is traditional to make the kottu on a heated iron sheet, used specifically for the purpose, and the cutting up and mixing of the kottu is done using two other rather blunt metal blades. This clashing of metal on metal creates a very distinctive sound, and come late evening the beat of kottu being prepared can be heard rising up from any small roadside restaurant.

[edit] Kothu as a Social Document

Kothu Roti originated in Batticaloa, in the Eastern parts Sri Lanka during the early 70s. Etymologically the name is Tamil language meaning "chopped roti". (Chopped wheat roti mixed with curry sauce) The basic rotti is made of Gothamba flour. The name itself is Tamil Gothamba (A form of Kathamba-meaning a flour made out of a variety of grains-referring to the white flour, and roti (ROTTI). Slowly it has spread to other parts of the country as the strife within the country continued and has now caught up and has become extremely popular. Etymologically Kothu Correctly Koththu means "Chopping" meaning Chopped Roti, where the curry, generally a meat curry (sauce) is "chopped" or "mixed" thoroughly with the pieces of wheat bread (Roti).

Kothu is now a food that has successfully transcended social boundaries in Sri Lanka. Kothu, which used to be a cheap, takeaway meal for the lower classes has now become almost a staple diet for the upper classes as well, specially among the young and outgoing. It is now a common practice in Sri Lanka for nightclub and party goers in Sri Lanka to end their nights with a kothu as a midnight snack.

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Hotel de Pilawoos, a 24-hour Restaurant on Galle road, Colombo, with a parent branch at Colombo Fort, has become - over the space of over thirty years - the de-facto location for this midnight gastronomy among the more trendy Colombo crowd. As a result, a rival to Pilawoos, Hotel Hijra, has emerged almost alongside Pilawoos, and the two restaurants now compete equally for customers. Clubgoers begin driving in late at night, and the crowd is such that Friday and Saturday nights see cars parked blocking the Galle road for passing traffic, and these blocks sometimes require Police attention. Although both these restaurants are highly patronized, the hygiene of their kitchens is questionable. However, reports of food-poisoning or upset stomachs caused by these two restaurants is surprisingly low, and it would seem that the kothu they serve up is perfectly safe, if not for the overly squeamish.

It would be very socially unacceptable for many of the elite who frequent these two roadside restaurants in the nights to be seen on the premises in the daytime. The questionable hygiene of the establishments only add to their popularity as a "slumming" location. However, there is no "distinct" taste associated with the kothu at any of these locations, as it is only trend that draws the upper middle class to these restaurants. Good kothu can be found at almost any small boutique that serves it anywhere in the island, and is often made at home, using godhamba roti cut with ordinary knives, and the appropriate ingredients.