Kolkata Chicken Roll/ Roti Wrap with Spicy Chicken Filling

We needed a quick dinner before rushing off to see Kahaani, a Hindi thriller casting my favourite actress Vidya Balan. Our home has adopted a no-eating-outside-on-weekdays policy. Since it is only in its second week, felt bad breaking it so early on. After all the resolution may grumble and complain about an early death at my hands. Not going that guilt ridden route!

After mulling over various quick options, decided to make a healthier version of Kolkata chicken rolls which are basically roti wraps with spicy chicken filling. It is very much like the Mexican taco.

A hugely popular street snack, these are known as rolls and depending on the stuffing inside they are called chicken roll, egg roll, egg chicken roll, paneer tikka roll, mutton roll, fish roll, potato roll so on and so forth. It is actually a greasy paratha which they fry in front of you and put preprepared filling, sprinkle some salad and roll it up in a white roll of paper and you are good to go. 

In the 1980s little vans took position in every nook and cranny of  Kolkata selling these rolls. So I basically grew up with it. This is one snack which can proudly claim to have South Kolkata roots. Culturally and historically Kolkata can be divided into two parts--north and south. The northern part is much older, known as Adi Kolkata (the original one) and almost all the famous snacks like telebhaja, cutlet, vegetable chops, moglaiparatha originated from there. Among many jeers is this food thing that we, newbie southerners have to face from the veteran northerners. So when the rolls emerged on the scene, we southerners quickly claimed it as our own. North caught onto it much later. 

It is a wholesome snack and used to be really cheap (not any more, like everything else in India). It is usually eaten from late afternoon onwards. Every Kolkatan swears by these and claims to know the best roll shop in the city. I have a couple of favourites too :-)

Ingredients For The 

Healthier Version Of The Roll:

The Rolls:

4 Chapatis/rotis/ Indian wheat bread (usually two of these makes a filling dinner). 

Either make your own chapati or get ready-to-eat-ones from the supermarket.

200 gms of chicken 

( Any skinless, boneless portion, I used two breast pieces )
Vegetarians can substitute with potato or paneer

One medium onion, finely chopped

One medium pepper, finely chopped

2 tea spoons of meat masala

A pinch of turmeric/haldi

Half a tea spoon of ginger and garlic paste, each

2 green chillies, finely chopped 

(seeded or de-seeded depending on your heat tolerance)

3 to 4 cloves of garlic,

peeled and slightly crushed

2 tea spoon of Maggie Hot & Sour Ketchup 

(or any other ketchup)

Salt to taste

2 tea spoons of oil

(vegetable/sunflower)

4 strips of paper to roll the rotis in for an authentic look

(Approx 5 and 1/2 inches long and 12 inches broad)

The Salad:

1/2th cucumber finely chopped

Half onion, finely chopped

1 green chilli, finely chopped

Juice of half a lime

handful of chopped cilantro

Rock salt or any other salt for sprinkling

• In a pressure cooker, put the two pieces of chicken, about 3/4th cup of water and the crushed garlic cloves and steam them for up to 2 whistles. If you do not have a pressure cooker, steam the chicken pieces in the way you usually do. Once they have cooled down, pull out the chicken meat into thin stripes
• In a frying pan, heat the oil, add the chicken pieces, ginger garlic paste, the onion, the pepper and the masalas. Fry for four to five minutes till everything is fried, add salt and the ketchup, mix well and remove from heat
• Make your chapatis or roast the store bought ones
• Mix all the ingredients of the salad together and set it aside

• For assembling the rolls, lay the trips of paper, on them put the chapatis in a way that a couple of inches of the paper is not covered by the chapati. Lay the chicken pieces and top with the salad. Roll the chapati and then wind the paper around it and tuck in the little extra. This will help in holding the filling inside.
• The roll is ready. It is usually served with lime and chilli. This a an on-the-go snack, eaten in late afternoon/early evening before dinner which starts from 9ish in the evening.