Food of The Past

It has been a long, long time since I tasted Roti Khurasan. Back in my boarding school days in Kuantan, our weekly trips to the pasar malam behind the schoolcompunds would include a stop at a stall manned by a member of the (now hopefully defunct) AlArqam group. This guy would be wrapping what looked like burgers in filo pastry skins, then deep frying them until golden brown. However, one bite of this delicacy would reveal that this ain’t no ordinary burger, as between the burger baps lies not the normal beef patty, but a mince concoction.

 

In the spirit of Ramadhan and all that, I decided to remake this snack of my youth. Instead of using the normal mince beef, I decided to make it a time (and cost saver) and used a tin of corned beef (halal, of course!). But you can use minced beef as well, just remember to season well with salt and pepper.

 

Roti Khurasan

 

1.   Defrost your filo skins and a cup of mixed diced veg.

2.   Finely dice ½ a large onion and a celery stick.

3.   In a wok, sauté your diced onion and celery in a small amount of oil till softened (I actually scrapped the coagulated oil from the corned beef and used it to sauté the onions).

4.   Add in some kurma powder and let the spiced onion mix sauté till fragrant.

5.   Add in the corned beef which has been broken up. Stir well in the wok to combine.

6.   Throw in the softened defrosted mixed veg, stir well to combine.

7.   Halve you bum baps. Spread a thick mixture of the mince on the lower half of your bap.

8.  Here’s the more-ish bit – top mince with your desired goo. I’ve tried cheese, lingam chilli sauce AND mayo on it and it tastes decadently good, burger sepah style. Cover mince with top half of the bap.

9.   Carefully wrap the burger buns in the largest filo pastry square you can find, sealing the edges well with a cornflour solution.

10. Deep fry in oil over a medium fire until golden brown.

11.  Drain well and enjoy.

 

Seriously lip licking yummilicious to the core. Any excess mince filling can be used for samosas!

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