Chicken Kathi Rolls | How to make Kati Roll | Chicken Wraps

Chicken Kathi Rolls are popular and among the most loved Indian street foods. These delicious wraps combine juicy, spiced chicken, paratha or chapati, topped with green mint chutney, pickled onions, and cucumbers. This handheld meal is perfect for lunch, dinner, and on-the-go snacking.

Kati rolls

Kathi Roll is a very popular street food recipe from Kolkata, West Bengal. Traditionally, the skewer-roasted chicken kebab is wrapped in paratha. But now, any grilled meat or veggies that are rolled in Indian flatbreads (chapati, paratha, roti, naan) is called a Kati roll.

These chicken rolls are easy to make, perfect for meal prep, and high in protein. They are good as appetizers, evening snacks, for your lunchbox, or even as a completely satisfying weeknight dinner.

Is Frankie roll similar to Kati rolls?

Depending on the type of bread used and the filling, some restaurants and street food vendors call it Frankie or Kati roll. The main difference is the place where these rolls originated. Frankie roll is from Bombay (Mumbai), and Kati roll is from Kolkata (Calcutta).

Ingredients

For chicken marination, you will need chicken thighs, ginger-garlic paste, turmeric powder, paprika, salt, garam masala, lemon juice,, and oil.

Bread: You can use Indian breads like paratha, chapati, roti, or tortillas to make these wraps.

Green mint chutney: chillies, coriander leaves, mint leaves, cashews, salt, yoghurt, and lemon juice.

Other ingredients: Cucumber, cut lengthwise, and onions, chopped lengthwise (soak the chopped onions in ¼ cup vinegar and 1 teaspoon sugar for 15 minutes).

Check out the recipe card for the full list of ingredients.

For chicken

Add chicken pieces, ginger-garlic paste, turmeric powder, chili powder, salt, garam masala powder, and lemon juice to a bowl, and toss until combined. Let this marinate for 15 to 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, heat the oil in a pan. To this, add cumin seeds and saute for 30 seconds.

Add the marinated chicken and spread it around the pan. Cook on one side for 6 minutes and then flip and cook on the other side for an additional 4 to 6 minutes. Switch off the flame. Keep this aside.

For the chapati (roti or flatbread)

Ignore this if you are using store-bought, ready-made flatbreads.

In a bowl, add flour, salt, and water little by little and knead to form a medium-stiff dough. Divide the dough into equal parts.

Roll each ball into a circle of 8 to 10 inches in diameter.

Heat the pan or tava. Add the rolled chapati to the hot tava and cook on one side (approximately 1 minute); when golden spots appear at the bottom, flip and cook on the other side (about 30 seconds). Drizzle oil if needed during cooking.

For the green mint chutney

In a mixie jar or blender, add green chilies, coriander leaves, mint leaves, water, salt, cashew, and yogurt, and blend to a smooth paste. To this, add lemon juice and mix.

Assembling the kati rolls or wraps

Place the parchment paper on the working surface and keep the cooked chapati or roti on top of it. Spread the prepared green mint chutney over the flatbread. Then, add the chicken filling to the center.

Top it with pickled onions, cucumber, and some more mint chutney.

First, fold it from below, then wrap the two sides like a jacket.

Chicken Kathi rolls are ready. Serve and enjoy.

Tips

• If you want to cut short, you can use ready-made store-bought parathas, Malabar parathas, or tortillas. All are easily available at Indian stores, Payless, Target, or Trader Joe's. I have made fresh chapatis with wheat flour, as they are easy to prepare at home, tasty, and healthy.
• To make it an authentic street-style kathi roll, you have to first prepare anda paratha. Add egg, a pinch of salt, and red chile powder, and whisk well in a bowl. Once you have cooked the paratha/chapati, remove it from the pan, spread the whisked egg mixture in the pan, add the chapati, and cook until the egg sets through. Remove the anda paratha (or egg roll) from the pan. To assemble the roll, place the anda paratha on the parchment sheet, egg side up, load it with chicken, chutney, and other condiments, and wrap it up. It gives your Kathi roll a different taste.

Variations

Below are some popular variations of kathi rolls that I tried during my college and working days. Follow the same recipe given above for all. Just the main ingredient gets changed.

You can add chicken tikkas to make chicken tikka kati rolls or paneer tikka to make the paneer kathi rolls.  Also, you can add boiled eggs or scrambled eggs to make egg kati rolls; roasted chickpeas and palak to make a chana palak roll; and, finally, with all the leftover veggies, you can make vegetable kati rolls.

Storing and reheating

Leftover chicken can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Reheat the chicken before assembling fresh rolls or wraps. Avoid storing already-assembled rolls for extended periods, as the flatbread will become soggy.

FAQs

Some Popular Chicken Recipes

Recipe card