Author: aatish k verma

The Kathi roll is perhaps the most famous street food item  the city of Kolkata has produced. Referred to as the Kolkata wrap, it is a truly delicious item savored with much gusto. Essentially, it is a paratha prepared thicker than usual with a scrumptious filling consisting of paneer, chicken, egg or mutton. Offering wide variants to suit the taste buds of every individual, the Kathi roll is a perfect example of food customization at its best. What makes the Kathi roll truly special is the preparation that goes behind it. The kebabs are grilled over a sigri making the kebabs soft, moist and scrumptious.

The parathas are cooked with more oil than usual while the quantity of spices varies from place to place. Every Kathi roll connoisseur knows their preference of filling and instructs the cook accordingly. With a slight tinge of the charcoal aroma, the Kathi roll delights the senses and compels people to return for more despite the humid weather of Kolkata. Now there are many locations across the city where you can indulge in delicious rolls, but this article will attempt to make things easier for you by naming the best places that serve rolls. Like much in life, taste is individual and thus disagreements in where you get the best rolls may stem up, which is why it would be ideal for you to explore the city and find the magnificence that food can lend to a place. Besides the food, take in the experience of the city and make the most of your time here.

Having been given life within the renowned walls of the Nizam Restaurant in Kolkata, the Kathi Roll emerged as Kolkata’s favourite street food item. Having stiff competition with kebabs, parathas and other Mughlai delicacies, there is speculation regarding the origins of the Kathi Roll. Offering variations to suit the imaginations of a number of people, it is safe to say that at some point, someone came up with the idea of rolling up kebabs.

The Kathi roll derives its name from the practice of using bamboo skewers, instead of the common iron skewers, to make kebabs. At first Nizam used iron skewers, like every other restaurant, but opted for bamboo skewers owing to its weight and availability. The Bengali word ‘Kati’ refers to stick and so the name stuck. In the present day, anything stuffing wrapped in a paratha can be considered a Kathi Roll. The Kathi Roll serves as a truly versatile street food item, offering a wide variety of stuffing to suit your taste buds. The variations however, are restricted to the stuffing and the wrap.

Known as Kathi Kebab roll in western India, Frankie roll in southern and eastern India and Roti Roll in Northern India, the Kathi roll has really cemented its position in the heart of food lovers across the country. The number of variations we come across in the Kathi roll is truly astounding. Chilli chicken and Paneer variants have become extremely popular.

Now Kolkata is no stranger to die hard foodies. Widely recognized as the cultural hub of the country, Kolkata does not disappoint when it comes to food. There is a food stall around every corner it seems with a wide array of delicacies to choose from. Food really is the center of all matters here, whether of the mind or the heart. When in Kolkata, it becomes necessary to taste the beauty of the Kathi Roll and thus to make things even simpler, here’s a list of places to visit for your street food fix.

Zeeshan at Park Circus offers perhaps the best Kathi Roll with a sense of old school Kolkata. The busy streets capture the essence of a city bustling with activity.  It comes as no surprise that Zeeshan capitalized on this Kolkata wrap to attract more customers. People are always on the move and the Kathi roll serves as the best food item for people on-the-go. Walking on this busy street, I’ve often observed the delightful smiles of people totally immersed in their roll.

Park street comes to mind as another favored foodie destination. There are a number of outlets offering a quick roll. Perhaps the most famous of these outlets is Kusum to which all consumers rush to. Park street is an experience to witness the old world charm of Kolkata. Home to some of the oldest buildings in the city, it acts as a melting pot for the old and new. One can spot a number of people taking a break from their hectic lives to enjoy a quick snack. It is in such an atmosphere that encourages the triumph of the Kathi Roll as the king of Kolkata street food.

Located rather close to Park street, Saima’s Dhaba at Russell Street is another famous eating house offering rolls people could kill for. People throng to this location with much enthusiasm. Russell Street does not just offer rolls, people can indulge themselves with a variety of street food items to choose from.

The beauty of the Kathi roll really shines through due to its diversity. Even though people have their own preferences, each eatery offers a different experience. Being located near offices also helps with people looking for breaks, hungry for some sinful treats. Walking across these outlets, you will always find someone licking their fingers in bliss while clutching a Kathi roll. The Kathi roll though enjoyed with company, offers a truly individualistic experience. You can simply block out the world, as witnessed many times, and indulge your senses in, what has been considered since its inception, a fantastic display of tasteful bliss. The Kathi roll is Kolkata’s favourite street food item for a reason and has stood the test of time and changing tastes. Be sure to catch up on this experience when in the city and you will not be disappointed.

We have all at certain times felt the need to adopt a healthier lifestyle. A healthier lifestyle helps us engage in daily activities with the enthusiasm to give our best. Fueling our mental and physical faculties, it influences our capacity to perform well in different spheres of life. The Paleolithic Diet is a simple idea morphed into a lifestyle. It is perhaps the healthiest way to nutrition, in sync with your body processes. The Paleolithic diet gains inspiration from how our ancestors must have approached nutrition, without the modern day trans-fats and sugar. Research claims that these trans-fats and sugar can contribute towards diseases like cancer, diabetes and obesity.  Making it simpler, the Paleolithic diet advocates the benefits in ingesting non processed food sources rather than what is readily available in labeled packages. Thus fruits, vegetables, lean meats, seafood, nuts, and healthy fats make the cut while dairy products, processed foods, sugars and legumes are discouraged.

Now coming up with a customized food plan centering on Paleolithic principles may seem a daunting task but it is not necessary to be so. All that is required is basic knowledge of the different benefits of various food sources. Lean proteins serve a significant role in strengthening bone and muscle tissue. Grass fed animals are perhaps the best protein sources available. Proteins help in repairing muscle tissue and help you feel satiated for a long period of time. Being rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidant content, fruits and vegetables are essential components of a healthy diet. Vegetables are storehouses for carbohydrates which provide energy to the body. Even in a low carbohydrate diet, carbohydrates derived from ingesting green vegetables provide enough energy to power you through the day without compromising on performance levels.  Fruits and vegetables are also preferred for their ability to combat the onset of illness.

Fats are essential components of our diet which have received a bad reputation of late. Fats are needed for bodily processes and even skin care. Nuts and seeds serve as great sources to stack up on healthy fats. Even fats ingested from animals contain optimum amounts of health fats. To ensure a sufficient level of healthy fats, dressing your salads with vinegar or even consuming moderate amounts of fish oil come across as great tweaks to take your diet to the next level. Fish oil is extremely rich in Omega 3 fats renowned for their role in speeding up metabolism.

What gives the Paleolithic diet the edge is its reliance on adopting an old fashioned approach to viewing nutrition. By simply removing self-destructive cravings for unhealthy food, we concentrate on eating what we need rather than what we want. The health benefits witnessed by adopting a Paleolithic diet are truly remarkable. Backed by science, the Paleolithic diet is testament to age old practice meeting modern acceptance. Perhaps the most sought after benefit amongst enthusiasts is the amount of fat you lose. Now it would be foolish to advocate the benefits of adopting a certain diet without stating the science behind it.

The Paleolithic diet derives much of its usefulness from its ability to do away with the inessentials we tend to consume in majorities today. Grains, legumes and dairy products are not as nutritious as we would like them to be, and removing them from our diet helps make way for the ingestion of more vitamins, minerals and antioxidants we so desperately need. In this article, we will identify the significant contributions made by the Paleolithic diet in warding off diseases. The symptoms of Diabetes for instance can be prevented by adopting a diet approach as healthy as the Paleolithic diet. In a study involving comparisons between the Paleolithic diet and the Mediterranean diet in insulin resistant individuals, the Paleolithic group displayed a reversal in the symptoms amongst individuals suffering from Type 2 Diabetes.

The Mediterranean group, on the other hand, displayed negligible results. There are absolutely no references to heart conditions or heart strokes among our common ancestors. When you wish to eradicate a certain disease, you tend to look into the lifestyles of societies in which the disease is virtually absent. Thus food habits influence our health more than we tend to think. Autoimmunity is a process which allows our body to fight a foreign entity be it bacteria, parasites or viruses. Sometimes our immune system misidentifies our own tissue as something foreign and attacks it. Multiple Sclerosis and Rheumatoid Arthritis are a few examples of autoimmune diseases. Much research is needed to identify the extent of how much a diet may influence autoimmunity, but the Paleolithic diet does hold some credit, in certain cases even reversing the symptoms of autoimmune diseases. Now all these diseases, seemingly unrelated, do share a common trait. They all attribute damage to the intestinal lining which allows undigested bits of food particles to gain access to the body.

The Paleolithic diet deserves all the credit it has received in the field of nutrition. In modern times, it is a new concept and naturally there are many questions in the minds of the people interested to embark on a journey towards better health. When it comes to diets, it ultimately boils down to customization to best suit individual needs. The important thing is to dive into the experience rather than spend valuable time preparing and overthinking where to focus your efforts. Experience, like all matters, is the greatest teacher and with time you will be able to make changes in your diet and make it optimal for yourself. As a healthy diet begins to take hold, it becomes a habit and soon you will be able to go about it as naturally as you brush your teeth. The Paleolithic diet is a must try for health enthusiasts and is a great way to achieve some long standing health goals. The results may surprise you.