Kulcha (Indian Soft Bread)

Kulcha (Indian Soft Bread)

Recipe by Mudita BhageriaCourse: BreadsCuisine: IndianDifficulty: Easy
Servings

12

servings
Prep time

2

hours 

20

minutes
Cooking time

10

minutes

Kulcha is a popular North Indian soft flat bread, more popular in Punjab. It is a sought-after street food throughout North India. The best kulchas are made in Amritsar. These can be made plain (as in this recipe) or can be stuffed with different ingredients like potato, paneer, onion etc. Traditionally these are made in clay ovens but at home, they can be made in the oven or on a tava or griddle.
This kulcha recipe is easy to prepare, very soft and tastes excellent. For this recipe, I prepared it on a tava/ iron griddle

Ingredients

  • 3 -1/2 cups All purpose flour

  • 1 Packet (8 gm)/ 2 ¼ tsp dry yeast

  • 3/4 cup water lukewarm

  • 1/2 cup plain yogurt (dahi) room temperature

  • 1 teaspoon sugar

  • 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

  • 3 tablespoon ghee/ oil

  • 4 tablespoons cilantro leaves or kasoori methi (optional)

Directions

  • In a bowl, mix warm water and sugar. Sprinkle the yeast on top.Keep aside and let it rise for about 10 minutes till it is bubbly.
  • Mix 3 cups of flour, salt, curd and ghee/ oil in a big wide bowl. Add the yeast mixture. Mix and knead well to form a soft dough.
  • Keep adding more flour if you find the dough too sticky or add additional water if dough is hard.
  • Knead for five minutes till it is soft and non sticky.
  • Put the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with a wet towel or cling wrap and place in a warm place.
  • Let the dough rise till it is double in volume (About two hours).
  • Once the dough has doubled, remove the towel/ cling and punch the dough down.
  • Divide the dough into eight equal pieces.
  • Take each piece and form a ball. Flatten and roll into round flat bread shape (About 5 mm thick)
  • Sprinkle a bit of the kasoori methi or chopped coriander leaves on top of each kulcha and press the leaves in the dough.
  • Place the kulcha on a hot tawa/griddle. When they start to bubble, and the edges turn slightly brown, flip it and cook the other side.
  • Remove the kulcha and serve hot with Matar (Dry peas) curry or Chole (Chickpeas/ Garbanzo beans curry).

Notes