Having a hard day at office and missed your lunch? Want to avoid the whole meal but still want your stomach full? The answer to your dilemma lies in a Kathi Roll! You have choices depending on whether you prefer vegetarian or non-vegetarian.
Kathi Roll, a very popular and desired street food, originated from a popular eatery in Kolkata called Nizam Restaurant. It is basically a roll of paneer/chicken/mutton pieces with onions and sauces wrapped in a parantha (and omelette if the customer so desires).
Nazim’s Kathi Roll in Satya Niketan, South Delhi is taken care of by Shaheed who shares with us the history of Kathi Rolls. “In Calcutta, during the time of Britishers, Nizam’s served the British. They used to come for food but when they were in a hurry, they just asked for veggees to be wrapped in roti and then would go away driving the car with one hand and eating with the other, bite for bite. After some time, the owner himself wrapped it up and began serving it as a roll.”
Gopal Snacks Corner in Chittaranjan Park has been in business for the past 45 years.
Gopal Santram, son of the original owner of the shop, has a very attractive menu to offer. Apart from chicken and mutton kathi rolls, there’s also kebab, fish and prawn on the platter. In case you want something new, there’s also the Mughlai parantha. What’s more everything on the menu falls under Rs. 150.
Kathi Rolls have flavours for the vegetarians too. There’s paneer and capsicum now included in them. But Shaheed says that that is not the correct way to serve Kathis. “Kathi actually means chicken and mutton barbequed on a wooden stick (or kaath - meaning wood in Hindi). Therefore, a kathi roll becomes those pieces wrapped in parantha. There used to be no egg with it. Nowadays, they serve anything.”
Kathi’s Café in South Extension, Part II has been operational for the last one year only but has come up with many innovative dishes to attract customers. There’s Soya Kathi Roll and Mix Aloo Kathi Roll for vegetarians but their speciality is the Kashmiri Kathi Chicken and Kashmiri Kathi Mutton. The shop also keeps shawarma and pita rolls, both a hit with the customers.
To really taste the Kathi Roll, one has to drop all their health consciousness because oil, meat and butter together contribute a lot of calories.
However, Nizam’s offers to cook in olive oil and uses wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour (maida). To give it a slightly western taste and to make it suitable for today’s McDonald’s generation, 34 Chowringhee Lane at Satya Niketan offers to add mayonnaise, mint mayo and mustard sauce as well. Their chicken rolls also come with lemon and garlic flavouring.
Shruti Thapliyal, a student of Sri Venkatashwara College and a regular at Chowringhee, says, “I usually take all the toppings in one go because it tastes so incredible everytime!” Deepannita Majumdar doesn’t live anywhere near Satya Niketan but makes sure she visits the place at least once or twice a month. “The delicious meat inside the crunchy parantha just makes my day! Plus, there are two shops in one place.” Sounds like a foodie’s delight, now!