Porotta and beef roast: Kerala's favourite plate, explained
Ask people from Kerala what they miss most when they are far from home and many will say the same thing: porotta and beef. It is the dish you eat after a long day, at a tea shop, at a roadside stall at midnight, or at a family table on Sunday.
What is porotta?
Porotta (also spelled parotta) is a layered flatbread. The dough is made from refined wheat flour, rested, rolled thin, oiled, folded and coiled like a snail shell, then flattened and cooked on a hot griddle. Cooks then clap the bread between their hands to open up the layers, which is why you will often hear porotta before you see it.
The result is crisp on the outside, soft and flaky inside, and ideal for tearing and soaking up gravy. It is a different bread from naan or roti, and closer to a flaky paratha.
And beef roast?
Kerala beef roast (beef ularthiyathu) is beef cooked slowly with onions, ginger, garlic, black pepper and fennel, and finished with slivers of coconut and curry leaves in coconut oil until the sauce clings to the meat. It is dark, rich and peppery rather than hot, and the toasted coconut slices are the detail people remember.
Recipes differ from home to home: some add more pepper, some more chilli, some cook it dry and others leave a little gravy. A beef fry is a drier relative; we serve both versions of the idea on our menu, so check the menu for what is available today.
How to eat it
- Tear the porotta by hand into pieces. Do not cut it.
- Scoop up some beef and a little of the gravy with a piece of bread.
- Add a few raw onion rings and a squeeze of lime if they come with the plate. The freshness cuts through the richness.
- Finish with a sweet, milky chai, which is what many Keralites drink with it.
Where it comes from
Porotta became popular in Kerala's tea shops and thattukada (street stalls), cheap, filling food for workers and travellers. The pairing with beef is deeply Kerala: beef is part of everyday cooking in the state, and a plate of porotta with beef roast is a late-night favourite.
Try it in Berlin
We make porotta with beef roast at kokoland, Petersburger Str. 39, 10249 Berlin. Order for takeaway, book a table, or pre-order from the website so it is ready when you arrive. New to Kerala food? Start with our beginner's guide.