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A kati roll (sometimes spelt kathi roll; ) is a street-food dish originating from Kolkata, West Bengal, India. In its original form, it is a skewer-roasted kebab wrapped in a paratha bread, although over the years many variants have evolved all of which now go under the generic name of kati roll. Today, mostly any wrap containing a filling enfolded in an Indian flatbread (roti) is called a kati roll. In native Bengali, the word roughly translates to 'stick', referring to how they were originally made. In Bengal though, the delicacy is simply known as roll. Kati rolls normally contain coriander chutney, egg, and chicken but the types may vary.
The kati part of the name came later. Like everyone else in India, Nizam used iron skewers to make their kababs; they were easy to maintain and lasted a lifetime. However, as Nizam popularity grew, these long heavy iron skewers became problematic, as far more was required than could be handled. In 1964, Nizam moved to bamboo skewers that were lightweight and available in large numbers. These skewers are referred to in Bengali language as or 'stick', and the names kati kabab and kati roll soon stuck. The name eventually became synonymous with any kind of paratha rolled with stuffing (even when neither kati nor kabab was involved) such as the egg roll or the potato roll, and later even for other breads such as naan or Rumali roti.
In West Bengal, shops serving rolls are mostly known as Roll-er-dokaan and people use roll to refer to a kati roll. Chicken roll and egg roll are two of the most common variants of kati roll.
Kati kababs were originally beef, and now have variations with chicken or mutton (lamb) chunks, marinated in spices and cooked on skewers (the kati) over coals in a sigri. When the roll is being prepared, these are taken off the skewers and tossed with onions, chillies and sauces on the tawa, before being laid in a thin strip on the centre of the paratha (egg side up, when applicable). At this stage, most roll vendors will add various kinds of sauces, a dash of vinegar, a squeeze of lime, sometimes a shake of chaat masala and maybe some julienned carrots. The whole thing is then rolled up (originally in old newspaper, but now clean paper is generally used). In Kolkata, the paper usually covers only half the roll; elsewhere the paper will cover more or even all of the roll.
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