Chettinad Eatery Log: Kothu Parota and Best Eggs Ever

Day 1: Dinner at Kothu Parota stall, Karaikudi

On that first evening, we went to the market area in Karaikudi – on Panchayat road, actually (I have a habit of checking the addresses on shop boards when in doubt). We originally went in search of cold badam milk to beat the heat, but ended up wandering a little bit, till we reached a parota stall. We stayed there for dinner.

Every third shop on that street was a parota stall. They made a variety of flaky, layered parotas and something called Kothu parota.

Kothu parota is a famous street food in Tamil Nadu. First, a bunch of onions and tomatoes are fried on the (all-purpose) parota griddle with chili powder and pepper. Eggs are beaten with salt and a little chicken curry gravy and scrambled with the onions and tomatoes. Pieces of chicken from the curry are then added along with torn up bite sized pieces of parota and the whole thing is violently chopped up into tiny bits using a scraper! It is served piping hot!

These stalls also serve eggs cooked in a variety of ways – omelettes, half boiled (sunny side up) and my personal favourite, “kalakki”. A cross between an omelette and a poached egg, the egg is beaten with seasoning and poured on the hot griddle. Just as the base begins to cook, the edges are swiftly folded inwards, encasing the soft, semi-cooked centre inside.

The little round omelette with a gooey centre

The real fun of the kalakki is that you must eat the whole egg in one mouthful, so as not to let the insides ooze out and be lost. As I carefully lowered the piping hot egg into my mouth it exploded with flavor and steam. The cavity of my mouth could barely contain it – my eyes watered and I parted my lips to let out puffs of steam to cool the contents of my mouth. Quickly, the heat gave way to creamy semi cooked eggs, which happily slipped down my throat. It was quite the experience! And having grown into a fan of soft-cooked eggs (hated them as a child!), I think this is may be one of the best forms of eggs I have eaten yet!