A60E01 – Aloo Kulcha | #Amritsar60

Amritsar 60 is a series of bringing 60 amazingly amazing experiences of the city for our world travelers. And what would be more appropriate than to start the series with the traditional breakfast of our Holy City? A meal for which the city is known for and is famous around the world.

We carried out small research and got to know about the much talked about and the patriotic food that exists in the city. There is nothing more than Amritsari’s are more proud of than their traditional breakfast – The Amritsari Kulcha.

It seems that a family won’t enjoy a happy weekend if they will not enjoy a proper Kulcha Breakfast at their favorite Kulcha walla shop. But the point to think behind is what actually makes this Kulcha so admirable? Well, it is the way it is manifested with butter and the stuffing. A good crispy Kulcha with a good amount of butter all over it merges the crispiness and juiciness in one. A proper Kulcha serving is also followed with strong hands crushing it together to get the butter blend even more.

Amritsari Kulcha is a complete meal in itself and it is served with chickpeas and some onions or chutney. The onions are usually soaked in tamarind chutney which gives it the addictive, tangy taste. While the traditional Kulcha called Aloo Kulcha (Potato Naan) is usually stuffed with potatoes. But there are quite a few varieties one can have. Cheese/Paneer Kulcha, Cauliflower/Gobi Kulcha or mixed Kulcha are just a few common examples you can experiment with.

How It Is Prepared

Do take a sneak-peak inside the kitchen to observe their way of cooking because the otherwise simple looking dish can have various twists and turns associated with it. Here are the recipe notes to make a mouth-watering Amritsari Kulcha:

1. Firstly, a soft maida dough – (refined flour dough) is kneaded and blended with a spoon of baking soda in a peculiar way and then is stuffed with mashed potatoes, some crumbled paneer and little cauliflower at times
2. The best thing about preparing a Kulcha is that ghee is added in layers which makes the Kulcha fluffy and easier to cut off
3. To give the desired taste to the naan, chopped onion is added as per the priority accompanied with the basic spices like salt, red chilly, powdered coriander and roasted cumin powder
4. The Tandoor, which is a cylindrical clayey or metallic oven is made to get hot enough by igniting a fire inside it with the help of coal. The Tandoor is used in baking and it plays a sublime role in the preparation of Kulcha
5. The Naan so formed is then put inside the tandoor which also adds to the smokey flavor to the whole experience. When the Kulcha is baked inside the tandoor, two iron rods, one curved at the end and another pointed is used to take the prepared kulcha out from the tandoor
6. A good dollop of butter is then put over it with a pinch of chaat masala spread all over it and the same is served with chickpeas and onion or raw mango tamarind chutney

Available at various Kulcha junctions, this is one and the only thing that is scattered in every corner of the city. The street food experience is all about people and timings. Although Punjabis are not the early birds, still preferably on a Sunday between 10 am and 12 pm you will see a swarm of people gathered outside these Kulcha shops and enjoying their meal, ordering and chatting to their heart’s content. If in case you have skipped these timings then there may be a risk of losing this opportunity for the weekend.

So get set go to explore it yourself and share the experience.