HOT DEBATE: ROTI Vs PAROTA

The great 'Malabar Parotta' or 'Barota' is a thing of immense joy. Distinct from its North Indian cousin (the Lachcha Parantha) and closer to its Malay counterpart, the Roti Cannai, a good Malabar Paratha is flaky yet fluffy, crisp yet soft. Having gorged myself sick on many of these, I can tell you that this unleavened flatbread is the perfect accompaniment to many a dish. These flaky thin layers will trap coconutty curries like Chicken Chettinad and rich meaty stews or provide the perfectly delicious crisp-soft cover for enveloping deep, dark, South Indian stir-fries. You know the ones that are abundant with caramelised shallots, pepper and curry leaves.

Since last three days, a large group of Malayalis joined Twitter #KeralaComesToTwitter to fight misinformation about their State on the social media platform. On Friday, they had a fight on their hands.

What ticked them off is that a recent GSTruling by the Karnataka bench of Authority for Advance Rulings which put roti and parotta in two different GST slabs. The ruling said food items like the Malabar parotta and whole wheat parotta would be subject to a higher GST rate of 18% against the 5% that was applied to khakhra, plain chapati and roti.

They had distinguished between the two products because rotis were a ready-to-use food preparation while parottas needed to be heated before they could be consumed and hence could not be classified under Entry 99A of Schedule 1 of GST notifications as roti was.

So what is the difference between roti and parota or paratha as we usually call it?

Parota and paratha are the same thing. The defining characteristic of parota is that it is folded. It is thicker, it has more fat in it like ghee or oil or dalda. So you add the fat and fold it and roll it out again. As many times as you repeat the action, you get that many thin layers.

Technically, roti, on the other hand, is a very generic term which includes chapattis as well as phulkas. Essentially, a roti dough is a single dough which is made into balls and rolled out but it does not have multiple layers, which distinguishes it from a parota. Parota is comparatively expensive and takes more labour. Roti is more staple and basic than parota.

This justification did not quite fly with parotta lovers who were soon trending #handsoffporotta on Twitter.

The issue soon took on a more regional angle as many claimed the ruling was discriminatory of people from Kerala where parotta is a staple. Some even called it "food fascism".

The message was clear - stay off our plates.