Kulcha

Kulcha

Kulcha is suppose be a popular Punjabi bread. I usually have it in an Indian restaurant here and quite like it. It is usually made out of plain flour (maida) and often has potato mixed with the dough or stuffed in. They are usually incredibly soft and that is the reason I wanted to try them. With very limited time to research a lot of options, I decided to try the simple plain kulcha. I did not want to use flour alone and added some wheat flour as well just so that there is some wholemeal and not just refined carbohydrate. The key challenge to me (this may sound very silly to many), was to get the yeast to froth. There have been a few times when the yeast never frothed and hence nothing would rise. This time and thereafter I now know the right temperature to put the yeast in. My tip would be that allow boiled water to cool until it reaches a point when you can touch it by hand and tolerate the heat. I have made this recipe a few times and it has always come out nice. Some may argue it is not exactly kulcha, but that is the closest name I could give it. It is a great bread anyway! Here is how I do it…


2 cups flour (equal parts of plain and whole wheat flour)
1 teaspoon dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt as required
Milk
Oil

Dissolve the yeast in about half cup water (temperature as described earlier) mixed with sugar. Allow this to rest for about 10 minutes so the yeast froths.

Take the flour in a mixing bowl and add some salt. Add the yeast water and required amount of warm milk to make a soft dough like one for chapatti. Put some oil on your hand and knead well. Knead for about 5 minutes.

Rest the dough covered with a wet cloth or cling film so the top does not dry up. Leave it in a warm place for about an hour so the dough doubles in volume. Knead again for five minutes

Make lemon sized balls and roll out like chapattis and do not make them too thin.

Put the rolled kulcha on hot tava (do not cook on low flame as it will not be soft), once white spots appear, turn and cook until bubbles appear. Flip again and gently press on the kulcha and it will rise beautifully.

Brush some oil or butter and serve with a nice gravy.

Low Fat Onion Fritters

Low Fat Onion Fritters


Not sure where my husband picked this habit of having something crunchy on the side for his main meal. Needless to say it often becomes the main dish and there comes an arguement at the dinner table. I have almost stopped buying crisps/chips so that crunchy stuff has to be something home-made. As the head chef of the family, I always avoid deep frying but it is not always easy to make a low fat crispy dish but as I have the need to do it, I do few experiments. This particular recipe has been quite successful and have done it a few times. I have seen such fritters being served either on the side in some restaurants and some places even serve this in the name of bhaji. I am sure it is more a cousin of pakora than bhaji. You could serve it as a starter with a nice dip or chutney or serve it as a tea time snack. Here is the recipe...

2-3 red onions, halved and then thinly sliced
3 tablespoon besan (chickpea flour)
½ - 1 teaspoon chilly powder
Turmeric powder
Asafoetida
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon cooking oil

Try to separate the onions with your hands so they are not clustered. Add all ingredients except oil and mix well and then add oil and mix again

Cook in a preheated oven at 180degC for 25-30 minutes mixing every ten minutes.

Serve hot

Please have in mind that it takes around 20-25 minutes, the ingredients are cooked. However, it is after this that it becomes crisp. Keep an eye as depending on your oven, the timing may vary slightly and it may just start burning.

Cauliflower Pepper Curry (dry)

Cauliflower Pepper Curry (dry)

There are times when I am not sure if I have stock of few things and start wondering in the shop. I do not like coming back home to realise I bought something I already have, especially perishable food. This time it was bag of mixed peppers. I already had one pack and also frozen chopped peppers. I cannot say I didn’t know what to do with it considering I have a food blog. Well, I say so because they are fairly common ingredient and I should have no problem making something nice. I was originally planning to make what they call ‘achari’ style. I believe it is a Punjabi type of cooking vegetables where specific spices are used. However I thought it may not suit the texture of peppers and hence made something on the fly. It came out quite well and hence got a place in my blog. I had few pieces of what is called ‘bajji milagai’, it is a type of big chilly and I used that instead of green pepper. You can use any pepper of your choice. Now for the recipe...

5-6 florets of cauliflower, par boiled
1 red onion, chopped
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 green pepper (I used a type of chilly instead)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon onion seeds (kalonji)
2 dry red chillies, broken
1 teaspoon coriander powder (dhania)
1 teaspoon chilly powder
½ teaspoon cumin powder (jeera)
Turmeric powder
2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves
1 teaspoon grated ginger
2-3 cloves garlic chopped (optional)
Cooking oil
Salt to taste

Heat about a teaspoon oil in a wok and add the cumin seeds. Once it starts turning dark brown, add the onion seeds, dry red chillies and chopped onions.

Add the peppers, turmeric powder, ginger and garlic. Add little salt to encourage the cooking of peppers

After the peppers are almost done (check by piercing them with a ladle, if they yield easily, they are done), add the cauliflowers. Add the chilly powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and salt and cook on low flame for about 10 minutes

Garnish with chopped coriander and serve with an Indian bread or rice.