R for Roll

A Bengali delicacy! This may be a street food but this is one dish which is given royalty status because of its popularity and overall awesomeness. Rolled up maida (flour) flatbread filled with spiced chicken or mutton pieces, sliced onions and drizzled with sauces and garnished with masala.

What’s in a name?

A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet, said Shakespeare. The humble Bengali “roll” is called by a variety of names all round the globe, yes the globe. Called “Wraps” globally, it is called Shawarma in the Middle East, Gyro in Greece, Burrito in Mexico, Spring rolls in East Asia and Frankie in our very own Mumbai! The essence remains the same and though I do not know which can be called the “original”, what I do know – to me and to every Bengali, it will always be THE Roll!

The most favorite version is the Egg Roll which has a layer of fried egg over the flatbread and is universally the best! So here’s my recipe for Egg Roll; serves 2 (about 6 rolls).

Ingredients:

For the flatbread:

Maida (Refined flour) – 2 cups (~300gms.)

Salt – a pinch

Oil – 2-3 tsp. for dough + 2-3 tsp. for frying

Water – ¾ cup or as required

For the filling:

Eggs – 4

Cucumber – ½, medium

Onion – 1, small,

Tomato – ½, medium

Lemon juice – 1 tsp.

Salt – to taste

Tomato ketchup – as required

Chilli sauce – as required

Chaat Masala – a pinch

Optional (Chicken filling):

Chicken – 50 gms., boiled and shredded/cubed

Onion – 1/2, thinly sliced

Capsicum – ¼, thinly sliced

Oil – 2 tsp.

Cumin powder – 1/2 tsp.

Coriander powder – ½ tsp.

Red Chilli powder – ½ tsp.

Method:

1. Take the maida in a bowl. Sieve it once for smoother dough. Add the salt and oil and knead gently till the maida forms loose clumps in your hand.
2. Now add water little by little and keep kneading. The final dough should be soft and stretchy. Pat oil lightly over the dough and set aside for atleast 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile chop the cucumber, onions and tomatoes for the filling and mix together.
4. Add the lemon juice and salt and mix well.
5. Beat the eggs in a bowl. Add salt to it and mix.
6. Once the 30 minutes are up, roll out the dough to 6” round and 2 cm. thick circles.
7. Heat a flat frying pan (a tawa). Lightly dry roast the flatbread on each side till they are cooked. Roast all the flatbreads and keep aside.
8. Lightly oil the pan and add a portion of the beaten eggs. Quickly place a flatbread over it. Let it fry for 1-2 minutes.
9. Brush oil on the upper side of the flatbread and turn the whole thing over. Fry for another couple minutes till it is just crispy.
10. Repeat steps 8 & 9 for all the flatbreads.
11. Take a flatbread and place the cucumber-onion-tomato mixture on one side of it over the egg fried side. Drizzle ketchup and chilli sauce and sprinkle chaat masala over the lot. Roll up the flatbread.
12. Egg roll is ready! Repeat for all the flatbreads.
13. Optional: If you want an egg-chicken roll, follow below steps.
14. In a frying pan, add oil and fry the onions and capsicums till they are translucent.
15. Add cumin, coriander and red chilli powder and fry till spices are roasted.
16. Then add the boiled and diced chicken pieces and fry till the spices mix well. Switch off the heat.
17. Add this chicken filling to the egg-fried flatbreads on top of the other filling.
18. There you have it, egg-chicken roll!

Step wise, it is actually quite a bit but the dish is worth it and the labour will be much appreciated by all who taste it. What takes so long to took will be devoured in minutes! Believe me. You can have this as a snack or as a full fledged meal.

This post was written for Blogchatter A2Z challenge; Day 18 – Letter “R”.