Tea and roti

Making parathas and chai on the streets of Calcutta




Tea stall on the streets of Calcutta

Making rumali roti

Rumali rotis are very nice to eat. At Bademiya restaurant (a street stall on a small street between Colaba Causway and The Taj in South Bombay) they make Rumali rotis late night on the street to go with all the wonderful kebabs. There are two guys who are constantly pulling, stretching, and tossing dough next to the long grill on the side of the road. They have big trash cans filled with fire topped with upside down woks (kadais). They cook the giant thin flatbread on top of these burners for seconds, and fold them up then toss them into a basket whose supply is constantly being depleted by the waiters serving kebabs to people on the street and to the people in the dining room across the road. I asked the chefs at the Cidade de Goa kitchen to show me how to make the dough. It is just like tossing pizza dough. In the video below, you will see rumali rotis being prepared in the Cidade de Goa kitchen
then out on the streets of Bombay and Calcutta. The kebabs on the grill are from Bademiya. Then you will see the making of other Indian breads like tandoori naan in the kitchen of Cidade de Goa and Malabari parathas (flatbread from Kerala that is stretched super thin and then rolled up with oil before being flattened out and cooked).

Rumali Roti

3 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
warm water
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup yogurt

Combine flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour and add milk and yogurt. Mix together with enough warm water to make a soft dough. Knead for ten minutes. Allow to rest for 30 minutes in a warm place, covered with a damp towel. Cut into small balls and allow to rest for another 10 minutes. Heat a wok upsidown over medium heat. Roll out into thin disks and pull, stretch and toss to form a super thin sheet. Lay the sheet on top of the inverted wok and cook until it begins to bubble. Flip over and cook second side breifly. Fold like a handkerchief.

Tea snacks on the streets of Calcutta

Making kati rolls on the streets of Calcutta

Tune: Uptown Top Rankink by Althea and Donna from Lightning Records 7"

Tune: Calico Suit is the Version on the backside of the Up Town Ranking record.



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Tune: Tupac Rockin Steady finds Tupac alongside Mr Ellis on his hit Rock Steady.


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Tune: Original Badman by Gorilla Black and Beenie Man on the Stalag Riddim with Sister Nancy in the background.

Tune: Fed Up is a missive tune by Bounty Killer over Dead Prez's Hip Hop Beat.




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Tune: Sonaremos El Tambo by Celia Cruz y La Sonora Poncena from the LP La Ceiba from Vaya records

Tune: Night in Tunisia by Dexter Gordon who is Lars Ulrich's Godfather. Lars (along with John Bonham) was of course a huge influence on the drum maestro James "Jimmy" Schanz.

Tune: What Am I to Do by Nigger Butler and Barber Brown from the Record City Label 7" is based on the Staple Singer classic I'll Take You There

Tune: What Am I to Do Version by R Butler