Parotta or Porotta is a layered Indian and Sri Lankan

flatbread A flatbread is a bread made with flour; water, milk, yogurt, or other liquid; and salt, and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are unleavened, although some are leavened, such as pizza and pita bread. Flatbreads ran ...

made from Maida or

Atta Atta or ATTA may refer to: * Atta Halilintar, Indonesian YouTuber, singer and entrepreneur * ''Atta'' (ant), a genus of ants in the family Formicidae * ''Atta'' (novel), a 1953 novel by Francis Rufus Bellamy * Atta flour, whole wheat flour made f ...

, alternatively known as flaky ribbon pancake. It is very common in the

Indian states India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepen ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

and

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

and widely available in other states like

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

and

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

and countries like

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. Porottas are often available as

street food Street food is ready-to-eat food or drinks sold by a hawker, or vendor, in a street or at other public places, such as markets or fairs. It is often sold from a portable food booth, food cart, or food truck and is meant for immediate consumption ...

and in restaurants. At some places it is also served at weddings, religious festivals and feasts. It is prepared by kneading maida/wheat flour, egg (in some recipes), oil or

ghee Ghee is a type of clarified butter, originating from India. It is commonly used in India for cooking, as a traditional medicine, and for religious rituals. Description Ghee is typically prepared by simmering butter, which is churned from c ...

and water. The dough is beaten into thin layers and later forming a round spiralled into a ball using these thin layers. The ball is rolled flat and pan fried. It is often served with a meat curry, such as chicken, goat, beef, or lamb.

History

Parotta originated in the

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

-populated

Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th most ...

area of

, and the migrant workers from there introduced it as "Veechu Porotta" or "Ceylon Porotta" in coastal

region of India. In Virudhunagar, traditionally, the parotta is deep fried and is called annai (oil) parotta which is very different from either the veechu parotta or the Malabar parotta. This predates the veechu parotta and has been around for a long time. Parotta became popular all over Kerala during the late 196 0s or the early 1980s. During the 1990s, street hawkers (''thattukadas'') of Kerala further strengthened its status as a local food, and it came to be known as "Kerala Porotta" or "Malabar Parotta" outside of Kerala, owing to the popularity of food from the

Malabar Malabar may refer to the following: People * Malabars, people originating from the Malabar region of India * Malbars or Malabars, people of Tamil origin in Réunion Places * Malabar Coast, or Malabar, a region of the southwestern shoreline o ...

region of Kerala which was always globally represented since British times .

Gallery

Round spiralled ball of dough.jpg, Round spiralled dough ball which gives Parotta it's flaky layers. Parotas.jpg, An image of Parotta.jpg, Parotta in Salem.jpg, Parotta.jpg, Hot Parottas Kothu Parotta (Chicken) as served in Tamil Nadu, India.jpg, Kothu Parotta (with Chicken gravy) Parota food.jpg, Roticanai bukittinggi.jpg,

Roti canai Roti canai (pronunciation: /tʃanaɪ/) or roti prata, also known as roti chenai and roti cane (/tʃane/), is an Indian flatbread dish found in several countries in Southeast Asia, especially in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thaila ...

, also known as ''roti parotta'' from Southeast Asia.

Health impact

Similar to any food product made from Maida (refined flour), Parotta / Porotta has been deemed unhealthy by some doctors. This has resulted in the introduction and popularization of "atta porotta", which is porotta fully made from atta (whole wheat flour) mostly available only in urban areas.

References

External links

Parotta making - A video filmed at a Tamil market diner (Dhaba)
{{Flatbreads Flatbreads Indian breads Indian cuisine South Indian cuisine Tamil cuisine Kerala cuisine Karnataka cuisine Bengali cuisine

History

Gallery

Health impact

See also

References

External links