HYDERABAD: Parottas or layered flour breads are popular in the southern states of India as well as the island country of Sri Lanka. Whereas Malabar parotta from Kerala is the most well-known among these, there are other variants like kothu, veechu, lappa and Ceylon parottas which are in demand in these places. It is said that the parotta recipes of South India did not migrate from the northern part of the country, instead, it was the Sinhalese workers in the southern part of Tamil Nadu and Kerala who brought these recipes from the island. The Arab traders visiting the coastline also had a role to play in this.
Each type of parotta has its own unique style of preparation. For example, for making Veechu Parotta, a popular dish from Madurai, the dough is spun in the air to make the parotta thinner. The thin layered bread is then folded and fried in oil. This dish is popular in Southern Tamil Nadu and gets its name from “veesu”, which in Tamil means tossing in the air. Ceylon Paratha is a two-layered parotta usually stuffed with vegetables or meat. The parottas is normally served with a gravy known as salna as well as onion raita.
Kothu Parotta is a completely different dish altogether. Roasted parottas are chopped into small pieces and sautéed on a tawa with masala, and other ingredients like onions, tomatoes, chillies, egg and even meat. Beachside shacks in Sri Lanka are known for the varieties of Kothu Parottas that they rustle up. Seeing the parotta being prepared in front of you and the sound of chopping and mixing itself makes you feel hungry.
Lappa is typically made with an egg filling and is widely known as muttai lappa in parts of Tamil
Nadu. After preparation, the parotta is again covered with another layer of egg batter, before folding into triangular or square shapes and fried. The recipe has influences of Arabic cuisine with strong similarities with muttabaq, a popular Arabic dish.
Pondy Parottas, with two outlets at Madhura Nagar and Hi-Tec City, brings all these types of parottas to Hyderabad. As per Rajasubbaiah who owns this place, the kothu parotta here is prepared in the special Karaikal style, where the masala is cooked on the tawa folded inside the parotta and then chopped into pieces. For Lappa, the stuffing is uniformly spread on the parotta directly on the tawa. They have chicken, mutton and seafood versions of the parottas, as well as kalaki, an omelette type egg delicacy popular in Tamil Nadu.
Sabyasachi is a food enthusiast and blogs at www.foodaholix.in