Roopram, the most famous roti shop in Suriname 

Hello, Storytime readers from around the world. Today I have a juicy and delicious story to share with you guys.  Today we are going to talk about the most famous roti shop in Suriname Roopram.  This Surinamese restaurant has become so famous that it even branched out in Amsterdam. So even if you can't make it all the way to South America, if you are in Amsterdam you get to have a taste of my home country.  Now you must be wondering, how did roti an Indian recipe end up all the way in Suriname, South America?  We have to go back in time and take a deeper look at the history of Suriname and its cultures to answer that.  As I mentioned a lot of times on my blog Suriname is a multicultured society. We are the only country in the world where you have a mosque and a synagogue located right next to each other. When I am sharing these kinds of food stories with you guys, I am also sharing a part of my country and its identity. On the 5th of June in 1873, a British Indian ship named the Lalarookh arrived in Suriname with the first British Indian immigrants. They brought along with them from India a part of their culture, language, and thank goodness food. Because Surinamese people love food, it is what brings us together. We share recipes, snacks, and holidays. Like most of the other immigrant workers or slaves that came to Suriname, they didn't have an easy life in the colony.  The history of my country has been very dark when it comes to that. I guess that is what happens when you are a colony that is rich in resources. You will not believe how many countries were fighting to get a piece of Guyana's shield. But this story is not becoming a history class. That might be for another Storytime.  This story is about the most famous Indian food shop in Suriname Roopram.  As a roti shop that started in the independent republic of Suriname, it managed to branch out all the way to the Netherlands.

                                  What is roti?

Just in case you don't know what roti is and you are missing out on one of the best-known Indian dishes in Suriname, let me break it down for you. This flatbread made its way all the way from India in Asia to Suriname in South America.  Roti is a type of flatbread, and in Suriname, we like to combine it with different dishes. The most famous combination is Masalla with chicken and then sometimes that also comes with long beans. But there are other combinations, like roti and curry duck, roti and pumpkin, roti and daal soup(Dal/Dahl), or roti and eggplant. We, Surinamese people, like to be creative with our food, and we also like to share. That's why the roti with chicken masala version is the most preferred and well-known one in all layers of our multi-ethnic society. Something that Roopram as a franchise monetizes on.  They have different locations in Suriname. Some like the one in the center of Paramaribo, which I did a previous article on have rude staff, but some locations like the one in Latour, the Indira Ghandi weg one, and the Lelydorp one have friendly staff and good service. If it comes to proportions and taste I highly recommend you visit the Latour one. 

                         Roopram and the drive-thru 

If there is one thing that sets Roopram apart from other roti chains in Suriname it is the way they managed to scale roti into a fast food chain with their drive-thru concept. They basically turned Indian food into fast food. But as you start to scale and branch out it also becomes even more difficult to uphold the quality of the product. I received a lot of feedback on my Tik Tok channel and most of you guys clearly pointed out that the quality isn't the same and some of you even disagreed with the proportions of Roopram rotis. I also received feedback from people living in Holland who were disappointed at the prices and taste of the Roopram chain in the Netherlands.  Thanks for being so interactive and providing me with your feedback guys. I certainly take that along with me in my content creation journey.  Either way upscaling the famous flatbread dish in different varieties the way Roopram does is a challenge they managed to pull off. The concept might need some improvement here and there but that doesn't take away the fact that the Roopram locations still gather a long line in front of their stores.  What do you think about Roopram? Try it out during your travels in Suriname, and let me know in the comment section. They also have other items on their menu that you can try out. I do like the taste of their filled baras. In my other Story Time editions, I will go more into depth about the other items on the Roopram menu.  I can't wait to share my next story with you guys right here on Story Time. Make sure you jump onto my Story Time U.F.O. and enjoy this video that I made just for you guys. Lots of love, and hit that share button before you exit my blog.😝😉😅💓