Kulcha Recipe

Kulcha eaten on its own or with a curry, is a classic indulgent North Indian meal. These flatbreads are crispy on the edges & fluffy in the middle, with a rich and buttery taste. In this post I show how to make the best softest plain and stuffed kulchas (with and without yeast).

About Kulcha

Kulcha is a type of leavened flatbread made with all-purpose flour and a leavening agent like yeast, baking soda & baking powder. While it’s believed that Naan originated in Persia, Kulcha originated in India, purely being a Punjabi creation. They are of 2 kinds – plain and stuffed.

Plain kulchas are eaten with a restaurant curry or as a street food meal with chaat style Chole, Matar or nutri soya curry. Stuffed come in many versions and Amritsari kulcha is the most popular with a potato stuffing. These are made with layers of dough smeared with plenty of butter/vegetable oil or ghee.

There are also others made exclusively with paneer, cauliflower, onion or a special masala filling.

In Bangalore, where I come from, a plain kulcha does not exist in a lot of restaurants. So kulchas are mostly stuffed, with a delicious & minimally spiced filling. These are also known as masala kulchas in some places. Potato, paneer, carrots and some basic spices go into the filling. My recipe helps you make this kind of delicious flatbreads.

The stuffed version can be eaten on their own without a curry. If you want to make them plain, omit the stuffing.

Naan vs Kulcha

Differences & Similarities

• Kulcha has a thicker, lighter and fluffier texture than naan.
• The dough made for kulcha has a higher amount of leavening agent than naan. This is crucial to get the bread like fluffy structure.
• While some meat serving restaurants use egg to make naan dough, it is never used to make kulcha.
• Both can be plain or stuffed with spiced aloo, gobi, paneer, cheese or keema fillings.
• Both are made with maida, all-purpose flour. If you want you can make both with whole wheat flour or a combination but they will be denser and the flavor is different.

Photo Guide

How to make Kulcha (Stepwise Photos)

Knead the dough

1. Gather the following ingredients to make the dough.

• 2¼ cups or 280 grams organic all-purpose flour (I use 1¼ cup whole wheat flour + 1 cup all-purpose flour)
• ½ cup or 120 ml plain yogurt at room temperature (I use store bought Greek yogurt)
• ¼ cup or 60 ml warm milk (+ more as required)
• 2 tablespoons oil or melted butter (30 ml) 
• 2 teaspoon organic sugar
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder (or use ½ tsp baking powder + ½ tsp instant yeast, read experts tips below to know more)
• ½ to ¾ teaspoon sea salt (or any other, adjust to taste)

2. Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar & salt in a mixing bowl. (My flour came from a compressed pack so I sieved it.)

If using instant yeast, you may add it directly to the flour. Or If you want to make sure it is alive, activate half a tsp in ¼ cup / 60 ml warm milk and a pinch of sugar. Rest for 10 to 15 mins, until frothy. If it doesn’t get frothy your yeast isn’t active.

3. Pour the yogurt, oil and milk.

4. Mix well to form a soft non-sticky dough, adding more milk or water as required.

5. Knead until smooth & elastic for 6 to 7 mins. Shape to a ball. Grease the bowl and the ball with a teaspoon of oil. Cover and rest aside for 20 mins if you have not used yeast. If you used yeast, rest for 1 to 2 hours until doubled. Since I was using yeast, I preheated my oven to 40 C / 100 F for 15 mins. Then turned ON the oven light for 1 hour. If your kitchen is warm enough, simply place the bowl in a cabinet.

Prepare the filling

6. To make the filling, gather the following:

• 200 grams boiled potato (2 medium, boiled & grated, may cut down if you want)
• 200 grams paneer (1 cup grated or crumbled)
• 1 very small onion fine chopped (¼ cup, don’t use a lot)
• 1 medium carrot, peeled & grated (¼ cup, don’t use a lot)
• 2 green chilies (fine chopped, omit for kids & for low heat preference)
• 1 teaspoon ginger grated or ginger garlic paste
• ½ teaspoon red chili powder (cut down for low heat)
• ½ teaspoon cumin powder + 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• ¼ to ½ teaspoon garam masala (omit if you don’t like)
• optional – ½ teaspoon amchur – dry mango powder or chaat masala
• 1 teaspoon white sesame seeds (optional + 1 teaspoon kalonji/ onion seeds)
• 4 tablespoons coriander leaves fine chopped (divided 2+ 2)

7. Heat a pan with 1 tablespoon ghee or oil. Add onions & green chilies. Saute until golden and soft. Add ginger and saute for a minute. Stir in the sesame seeds and toast for another minute.

8. Stir in the ground spices – chili powder, cumin, coriander, garam masala, amchur and salt.

9. Add carrot and saute for 1 to 2 mins.

10. Add paneer and cook until it is is heated through, for 3 mins. If you omit this step, your stuffing can go bad fast. Add the boiled potato and half of the coriander leaves – 2 tbsps.

11. Mix well & taste test to adjust the spice and salt. Turn off and cool down completely.

Make kulcha

12. After resting your dough will be smoother and soft. It won’t rise if you used only baking powder and baking soda. Since I used yeast it doubled in 1 hour.

13. Avoid kneading or overworking with the dough at this stage. I punched it down with my hand once to release excess gas from yeast.

14. Divide to 6 equal portions. Shape and smoothen to balls, tuck the ends in the center. Cover them in a bowl, until used up. Also reserve aside a tbsp of sesame &/or kalonji – onion seeds and 2 to 3 tbsps of melted or softened unsalted butter.

15. Take a dough ball and spread to a 4 inch disc/ puri, with your fingers. Place 2 tablespoons of the stuffing in the center. (You can use anywhere from 1½ to 2½ tbsps depending on your level of Indian cooking skills. In the pic I used 2 tbsp. More in expert tips below)

16. Push it down into the dough and bring the sides over the stuffing.

17. Seal the edges well in the center, to secure the filling.

18. It should look like this. Gently shape to balls in between your palms and keep them in the bowl, away from each other to prevent sticking.

19. Grease a rolling board. Place the dough ball and sprinkle some coriander leaves and sesame or kalonji seeds.

20. Roll lightly to a 6 inch kulcha. It should be slightly thicker. Transfer to the kitchen counter. I usually make 3 and begin to toast while I roll the rest.

Toasting

There are 3 ways you can toast them. Easy pan toasting, steam cooking and sticking kulcha to the pan before toasting. Here I’m showing the first 2 ways. You can find the third method in my Tandoori roti post. I prefer the first option more because it’s easier especially when you are making a lot.

21. Method 1 – Easy pan toasting – Heat a pan on a medium high heat. When it is hot enough, transfer a kulcha to the pan and cook until you see bubbles, for 3 to 4 mins.

22. Turn it to the other side and cook until brown spots are visible on both the sides. Avoid pressing down hard with a spatula in the center. It will hinder them from puffing well. Make sure the edges are cooked well.

23. Optional for charred spots – Transfer the cooked kulcha (upper side facing down) over a wired rack, placed on the fire/ stove. Cook gently on a low heat, until you see some charred spots like seen in the picture below.

24. Smear butter all over the kulcha.

25. Method 2 – Steam cooking. Make sure the base of the pan is flat and does not have a higher surface in the center. When the pan is hot, place the kulcha in the center and pour 3 tbsps water. Cover and let cook in the steam until puffed and cooked through, for 4 to 5 mins.

26. Turn it to the other side and cook until cooked through again. You can also omit cooking on the other side (top) and cook it over fire. For that, set the gas flame to low. Invert your steamed kulcha ( upper side down) over the wired rack placed on the stove. Keep checking & turning it, to and fro every 30 to 40 seconds because these are likely to burn faster. You have to be very attentive here. I’ve shown the finished kulcha below.

Serve them hot on their own or with a curry and raita on the side. You will be left with more filling. Store that in the refrigerator for upto 2 days or in the freezer for a month. You can use it to make another batch of kulchas or stuff it in sandwiches or dosas.

Expert Tips

• Yeast is optional in this recipe and you get great kulchas even with just baking powder and baking soda. However if you are senstive to baking powder and often feel an aftertaste, then replace half tsp baking powder with instant yeast or make sure you use alumium-free baking powder. I use Bob’s red mill.
• Avoid using very high amount of yeast in this recipe. Since the kulchas are cooked on the stovetop, you will be left with a lot of uncooked yeast flavor. It is best to use higher amount of yeast only when you bake in a oven or a tandoor.
• If you plan to serve the kulchas on their own without a curry, try using atleast 2 tbsps stuffing. In a lot of restaurants it’s more of the dough and less of the filling. But it’s upto you.
• If you are a beginner try using lesser filling else your stuffing may fall off when you cook on fire.
• Avoid frying your kulcha in ghee/ butter/ oil. If you do that they will taste more like a paratha and not like a tandoori kulcha. Instead smear the butter over hot kulcha.

Variations

• The stuffing from the North Indian restaurants does not have a lot of spices. Only mild spices like cumin and coriander are used. Garam masala and garlic are not used at all. For a more spicy and meat-like flavors use garam masala, garlic and red chili powder.
• You may omit the baking powder and baking soda from the recipe. Use the same amount of yeast and let rise longer.
• To make keema kulcha, replace paneer and carrots with keema. Add the potato when the keema is soft cooked and most of the moisture is evaporated.
• If you want chewy kulchas, use only all-purpose flour. If you like tang, use sour yogurt.

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