What is Amritsari kulcha

Kulcha is a type of mildly leavened flatbread that originated in the state of Punjab, India.They are flaky,layered, crisp from outside but soft breads, specifically from Amritsar, a city from Punjab. Hence the name is Amritsari kulcha.Round in shape, they tend to be stuffed with delicious soft potatoes and spices. But there are other variations of kulcha, like paneer kulcha, onion kulcha etc. But the basic bread is same, only stuffings may vary. Kulcha are cooked either in oven or tandoor. Sometimes they are simply cooked in a griddle like me.They are one of the most popular breakfast dish of Punjab as well as Delhi.

Difference between Naan and Kulcha

Naan is another version of popular Indian flat bread which looks similar to kulcha. But there are some basic differences between the two.

The main ingredient of naan is wheat flour, whereas kulcha is generally made of all-purpose flour.

Naan is leavened with yeast, but a dash of baking powder is used to leaven kulcha, specially the kulcha which are not stuffed. And Amritsari kulcha are made of without any leavening agent.

Recipe of Amritsari stuffed kulcha

Preparation time: 1 hour 15 min

Cooking time: 40 min

Difficulty level: Medium

Serves: 7 kulcha

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 th cup ghee/butter or any other shortening
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup(approx) of water to make the dough
• 1/3 rd cup(approx) soft butter to fry and grease the kulcha layer
• For stuffing
• 3-4 small size boiled potatoes
• 3 tablespoon whole coriander seeds
• 2 tablespoon whole cumin seeds
• 1 tablespoon chilli flakes
• 1 tablespoon dry pomegranate seeds
• 1 teaspoon chat masala powder
• 1/2 teaspoon black salt
• 1/2 teaspoon regular salt
• 1 bunch chopped coriander leaves

Steps

Add 3 cups of all-purpose flour, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl.

Mix well and then add 1/4th cup of ghee/butter/shortening.

With the help of your fingers and palm mix ghee well with the flour like the picture below. You should mix until the mixture becomes crumbly in texture.

You have to continue to mix until you can make a rough ball out of the mixture.

Now make a dough with the help of water. Don’t knead much, you have to just combine the mixture with water to make the dough.I use little more than 1 cup to make the dough.

Cover and keep aside the dough for about 20-30 minutes.

In the meantime, dry roast 3 tablespoons of coriander seeds and 2 tablespoon of cumin seeds in a pan.

With a mortar and pestle crush them coarsely.

Also crush some dry pomegranate seeds coarsely.

Take 3-4 small size boiled and peeled potatoes.

Mash them and add 1 or 1 &1/2 tablespoon of crushed coriander-cumin seeds, 1/2 teaspoon dry pomegranate seeds, 1 tablespoon chilli flakes, 1 teaspoon chat masala, 1/2 teaspoon black salt, 1/2 teaspoon salt and some chopped coriander leaves.

Mix everything well. You can increase or decrease spice level according to your taste.

After the resting time of dough, divide the dough into 7-8 portions. Take one portion of the dough and roll into a thin chapati.

Spread or brush some butter over the chapati.

Fold the chapati into three parts as shown in the picture. Brush some butter in each fold.

Now roll it to make a log.

Press the log with your fingers to make a cavity. You can see both sides in the picture. These layers are important to make good kulcha.

Take one small portion of the stuffing and stuff it in the prepared cavity.

Seal the edges to make a patty.

Similarly make all the stuffed patties.

Roll each patty very carefully to make little thick round sheet.

Take some melted butter and mix with some crushed coriander-cumin seeds, pomegranate seeds and coriander leaves. Keep aside.

Roast each kulcha in a hot griddle with few drops of ghee to golden brown.

Transfer to a kitchen towel and brush some prepared spiced butter mix.

Similarly, make all the kulcha, keep in a kitchen towel and brush spicy butter.

Lip smacking stuffed kulcha is ready to serve with any punjabi side dish. I love to have them with some sweet tamarind-date chutney.