It’s rolled out into wafer-thin discs, billowed out into conical hats dripping with chocolate sauce and even shredded to ribbons. It comes out on plates looking like a dosa, then a pizza, and then a sandwich, but nothing like the parotta, which it actually is.
The South Indian parotta, a quick-fix street food for night time cravings, gets a Singaporean twist in the parotta mela at Mr. Kurry multicuisine restaurant. Parottas must be a strong point with the barely eight- month -old restaurant, for the everyday menu lists atleast 20 varieties. The festival simply plays its ace card to advantage, doubling up that number.
Cherry-picked for children
The parottas come in various versions- flaky, crispy, layered, and stuffed with anything from sardines to ice-cream- yes you read that right! “It is quite common to find a stuffed paratha but not a stuffed parotta,” claims Anton Madhan, director cum executive chef of the restaurant who has worked in Singapore. The former are prepared from wheat flour while the latter involve kneading maida and oil.
The menu lists a selection cherry picked for children- crispy, light on the stomach parottas, packed with goodies that children relish. There come either squeezed with butter and jam, laced with honey, crammed with cheese sausages or in miniature versions. The chocolate parotta with gooey chocolate sauce splattered on a papery base is a sure hit with kids. The pizza parotta with a heavy hand of tomato ketchup and melted cheese, may appeal to fast-food guzzlers.
Vegetarians can order their parotta stuffed with mushroom, paneer, cheese or veggies. Those who like it spicy can pick from cheese chilli, pepper chicken and hot gobi; those who prefer it easy-to-eat, have kothu parottas mixed with chettinadu chicken or hot fried prawn, to choose from. The must-try are the parotta mubaraks, cut like sandwiches and folded with minced mutton, spicy chicken or schezwan fish. The seafood parotta mubarak loaded with sear fish, minced tender crab meat and prawn, gets the best vote. They make up for the minimalist interiors and humdrum gravies.
Go for it if family and friends tag along to experiment, for one parotta is a meal by itself.
Stay away if you’re keeping an eye on the pounds, as they are heavy on oil and ghee. The food festival is on at Mr. Kurry restaurant at Karur by-pass Road between 7 p.m to 11 p.m. till May 26.
