You hear it before you smell it. Kottu roti is Sri Lanka’s most famous street food — and one of the most ordered dishes on our Ceylon menu.
Walk through Colombo or Jaffna in the evening and you hear kottu roti before you see it: a rhythmic metal clatter of two blades on a hot griddle. That sound is the calling card of Sri Lanka’s favourite street food.
What is it exactly?
Kottu roti starts with godamba roti — a thin, elastic griddle bread. It is chopped into strips on the plate and mixed with vegetables, egg, spices and a curry of your choice. Everything is chopped and folded together into a dish that is hearty, spiced and surprisingly light at once.
It began as a clever dish: a way to turn yesterday’s roti and leftover curry into something new. From thrift to national pride.
How we make it
At Kurundu we make the roti fresh and chop each portion to order. You choose vegetarian, chicken or lamb. The spices go in at the last moment so they release their oils on the plate — which is exactly where the aroma comes from.
Who is it for?
Kottu roti is ideal if you have never eaten Sri Lankan food. It is familiar enough — bread, vegetables, meat — and at the same time unlike anything you know. Not too spicy, unless you ask. And then we ask again, just to be sure.
