Stuffed Aloo Kulche

Stuffed Aloo Kulche

Living in Jalandhar our favourite Sunday thing was to have lunch in Haveli. Though there are a chain of Haveli restaurants all along NH1 from Jammu to Delhi, yet the one in Jalandhar is the original one. For a family of die hard non vegetarians the vegetarian fare at Haveli was a much awaited affair. And there can be no better testament of the quality of food there.

The one thing we ordered every time was the stuffed Kulcha. The dough is kneaded with yogurt and fermented for a few hours. Then they are rolled out, stuffed with filling and baked in a  tandoor. Compared to parathas they are healthier as they are not fried in ghee or oil. When making at home we don’t usually have access to tandoors. You can bake it in the oven. Or you can make it on the tava using very little oil.

Ingredients

3 cups flour

1/3 tsp baking soda

A pinch of baking powder

1 tbsp oil

Salt to taste

Yogurt to knead the flour

For the filling

3 potatoes, boiled and mashed

1 tsp chopped green chillies

2 tbsp chopped green coriander

Salt to taste

½ tsp chaat masala

For garnish

Chopped coriander

Nigella seeds/kalonji

Mix together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Add the oil and mix well. Knead using yogurt. Cover with a clingfilm and leave for about 2-3 hours.

Mix together boiled and mashed potatoes, green chillies, green coriander, chaat masala and salt.

Heat the tava. Make balls of the dough. Roll out the balls. Place potato filling in the middle and make a potli.

 Pat it down and slowly roll out the kulcha. Sprinkle some chopped coriander and Nigella seeds on top and press down well so that they don’t fall off.

 Put on tava. Roast both sides.

 Add some oil and fry till evenly browned.

Paneer Kulcha

Paneer Kulcha

The first time I tried this out I baked it in the oven and it was a big disaster. It was already lunch time and I had promised my husband something new for lunch. So I decided to fry it like a normal parantha. But when it went on the tava it swelled up beautifully and it was so tender that I had trouble flipping it over. 
It was a hit. It was ever so soft, so fingerlicking good. We had friends over for dinner the next day and I served this again. By this time I had tweaked and perfected the recipe for tava cooking. Everyone loved it. In fact most of my rice went untouched because the Paneer Kulcha won hands down. 

Ingredients

3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp sugar
¾ cup curd
Water to knead
For the filling
400 gm paneer
Salt to taste

Mix together the flour, salt, sugar and baking soda. Now add the curd and mix well. Slowly add water and knead into a pliable dough. It will be a little soft. Cover and keep for 4 hours. 
Crumble the paneer and add salt. 
Make medium balls of the dough. You will make approximately 10 kulchas. Roll out each ball. Put a good amount of filling and close the dough. Roll it out again. 
Heat a tava. Put the rolled out kulcha on the tava. Cook on one side for a minute and then flip over. Apply oil and fry both sides well.