A taste of India

The kati roll is a popular Indian street food with meats and other ingredients grilled on a skewer, topped with sauces and wrapped in paratha bread.

The kati roll — something to grab and eat on the go — has recently gained popularity in the United States and is now available in Birmingham at Silver Kati, a restaurant that opened in January in The Pizitz Food Hall.

At Silver Kati, the ingredients in the roll can be served over white rice or fresh greens.

This fast-casual fare allows customers to savor the delights of Indian food without a long wait, according to Arnold Soni, a veteran Birmingham restaurateur who was born in India. 

He helped develop the concept for Silver Kati along with his wife, Kinjal Soni; Kishore Kotian, owner of Silver Coin Indian Grill; and their chef, Ravi Kalaiyar.

“If you go to a Indian restaurant, just like any other sit-down restaurant, you’re going to spend a minimum of a hour, an hour and a half, but this gives people that flavor quick and easy,” Arnold Soni said.

“It’s fast, fresh and reasonably priced,” he said. “And there’s no other Indian street food in Birmingham.”

Silver Kati thus fits in well at The Pizitz, which does a brisk lunchtime business.

“And it’s ethnic, and most of The Food Hall is ethnic,” Arnold Soni said, noting the Ethiopian, Hawaiian, Mexican and Italian eateries among his neighbors on the first floor of the historic former department store.

The kati roll originated in the city of Kolkata on India’s east coast, according to Arnold Soni. “It’s sold just like this on the street cars,” he said, pointing to a kati roll with chicken and tikka masala.

It’s easy for diners to assemble their meals at Silver Kati, which has a “condensed menu,” Arnold Soni said.

Customers pick a base, which is a kati roll, a bowl of white rice or a salad bowl with mixed greens.

They pick a protein: chicken marinated with yogurt, lime juice and spices; fish marinated with lime juice and house spices; or tofu marinated with tandoori masala. The two sauces are tikka masala — a tomato cream sauce with cashew base and spices – and palak, a spinach puree with spices.

“The best-sellers have been the kati roll and the rice bowl, with the chicken and the tikka masala in both,” Arnold Soni said. “And the samosas have been very popular.”

The samosas — pastry filled with spicy peas and potato filling — are one of three sides, along with kachumber, which is a mix of cucumbers, onions and tomato, and raita, a seasoned yogurt blended with cucumber.

Silver Kati provides beverages that complement Indian street food, including mango lassi, a fresh, chilled yogurt with mango pulp. They also serve Indian soft drinks. 

Indian food seems to have grown in popularity in Birmingham, and Arnold Soni thinks he knows why.

“Birmingham has become a foodie city… and a lot of people are willing to try more ethnic-style food,” he said.

There is also a novelty factor. “Mexican and Chinese is on every corner, but now Indian food is starting to become a little more mainstream,” he said.

Indian cooking is “nicely spiced,” and “the spice and the flavors come together to give it the taste, but it’s not spicy hot,” Arnold Soni said.

The Sonis, along with other partners, have several other food franchises in town including Nothing Bundt Cakes in Hoover and at The Summit and a new concept called Frutta Bowls opening at The Summit in May.

But Arnold Soni said it's fun to have a restaurant in Birmingham’s newly active downtown and it’s “just a cool thing” to be located in The Pizitz, according to Soni.

“Just to be in here is … a little bit of fame,” he said.