Dish of the Day: The Kati Roll Company

April 26, 2011 12:38 pm

Dish of the Day: The Kati Roll Company

New York City is filled with more ethnic eateries than you can count, but simple rule of thumb when wondering if the food is authentic and tasty is to take notice of your fellow diners. If most patrons in the restaurant are of the same ethnicity as the food you're about to eat, then you can probably guess that you won't be disappointed. Of course this isn't always the case, but last night when I tried The Kati Roll Company for the first time, I was not disappointed. The Kati Roll Company sells only one thing: Kati Rolls, which are Paratha rolled around meat, chicken, veggies, cheese, and a variety of Indian spices that will remain secret from the public. Just like if you were to approach a kati roll street vendor in Calcutta, owner Payal Saha wants to make sure you'd only find kati rolls, made with authentic Indian spices that won't change to cater to Western palates. Because they only sell variations of one item, you'd suspect The Kati Roll Company would have trouble remaining open, but since 2002 they've been pleasing tons of customers with their in-house freshly made take-out sold at very inexpensive prices.

After waiting only few minutes and being stunned at the low cost(we're still in New York after all), I was so surprised at how much I liked the kati rolls. I am not a giant connoisseur of Southern Indian cuisine, but Kati Rolls are a great way to be eased into eating Indian food because I think it's almost impossible not to like them. I tried the chicken, chickpea, and even a coconut milk soaked shrimp version. All had sweet sauted red onions that worked great with how deliciously spicy the rolls were.

Tip: The vegetarian Paneer rolls are the most popular, but if you like shrimp, definitely don't be afraid to give it a try because it's fresh and cooked just right.

Photo credit: serious eats

� Written by Valerie Cario

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Tags : The Kati Roll Company, paratha, India, Calcutta, Payal Saha, Valerie Cario