Onion Kulcha

Kulcha, its a type of Indian bread quite similar in looks and appearance to a naan(another very famous indian bread), just without the elongated shape and are much softer. It can be made on a tawa or griddle, as opposed to naan, which is better baked in a hot tandoor or oven only ,to get the desired effect. And as now i have neither, i prefer making Kulcha's only, whenever there's need to cook something special. Also they come out more soft when made by stove top method as compared to baking.

Ingredients:

1 heaped tsp. dry yeast
About 200 ml warm water.
2 tsp sugar

For Dough:
500 gm all purpose flour or maida
1/2 cup natural yoghurt or dahi
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 tbsp. ghee or vegetable oil
Salt to taste

For Stuffing:
1 sweet onion, minced
few coriander/mint leaves chopped
1/4 tsp chilli pwd.
salt to taste


Method:

Place warm water in a bowl and add yeast and sugar over the water. Leave aside for 5-10 minutes, until it becomes frothy (activated).
Now sift flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl.
Make well in the centre. Add curd and oil in the well.
Then make a soft non sticky dough with the yeast water.
Cover and leave aside for 2-4 hours in a warm place, until it doubles in size.
Mix all the ingredients for stuffing.

Punch the dough down, and make tennis size balls out of it.
Heat a griddle or tawa or a frying pan.
Roll the balls out to a circle of approx. 3-4 inches in diameter. Put the stuffing (about 1-2 tbsp) in it, fold and agian roll out into 6-8 inches in diameter and 2-3 mm. thick circle . Don't make it too thick, because it swells up a little when cooking.

Place it on the heated griddle/tawa. When a few bubbles appear, turn it over. cook on both sides,and finally apply butter/ghee on one side, take it off the griddle.
Best serve kulchas immediately or else can also stack them one on top of other and then wrap them in a foil. Just before serving reheat in a grill or oven.
Serve with Chole or any other rich curry, like i served them with Malai Kofta's.

Tips:

Once the packet of yeast is opened ,it shouldn't be kept for long, unless its in the freezer.
Kulchas can be made in advance and reheated. They can be frozen too. Defrost fully, re-heat and serve.
You can make any type of filling for it , like onion or potatoes or even plain kulcha. I made all the three varities, for the three guys in my house with entirely different taste buds... :)

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Sending these Kulche's to RCI: Lucknow started by Lakshmi

Posted by Neha

Labels: bread indian