Frozen Porotta & Veechu Roti

Porotta, also spelt parotta or barotta, is the layered flatbread sold at every thattukada in Kerala and every parotta kadai in Tamil Nadu, where it is known as Malabar parotta or Kerala porotta. It is made from maida, oil and water, sometimes with egg or milk, stretched paper thin, gathered into a coil and rolled out again, so the cooked bread pulls apart into soft, crisp edged layers. In Sri Lanka, veechu roti is a thin, stretched roti folded into a square, close to godamba roti, and it is the bread that becomes kothu.

Porotta is eaten with gravy. In Kerala that means beef fry, chicken curry, egg roast or a vegetable kurma, and in Tamil Nadu a thin salna poured over the torn bread. Veechu roti goes with a Sri Lankan chicken or dhal curry, a tin from Sri Lankan curries, or a spoon of seeni sambol and coconut sambol. If you plan to make kothu, frozen kothu rotti saves the chopping.

Cook porotta from frozen on a dry tawa over a medium flame, turning until both sides are golden and flecked with brown. Lift it off and, while it is still hot, scrunch it between your palms or clap it between both hands so the layers separate and fluff up. Once thawed, these breads should be eaten, never refrozen. Find the other flatbreads under frozen parathas and breads, or pick up maida to try making porotta yourself.