Onion Kulcha

 

This has really been the month of flatbreads for me and I have more coming soon! When I made Za'atar Bread, karyn of HotPotato threatened to move in with me if I ever made Onion Kulcha. So naturally I had to try it, though I did warn her she'd have to sleep on the couch. I found this wonderful tutorial on Northern Indian Breads at eGullet, complete with very helpful photos, and followed the recipe given almost exactly.

As with the lahmajouns and za'atar bread, making kulcha added an elemental rhythm to my day, though I noticed real differences in the behaviour of the naan dough--it was much more elastic and stretchy when I was rolling it out. I was interested to see that it was leavened with baking powder instead of yeast, too (though I did find a very few recipes calling for yeast and time to proof the dough). The end result had that wonderful chewy texture you experience when you order naan in a good Indian restaurant. They were quite nice the next day, too, but absolutely fabulous right out of the oven. Kulcha really should not be made ahead.

Onion Kulcha
Monica Bhide and Chef Sudhir Seth, from the Northern Indian Breads tutorial at eGullet
makes 8 onion kulchas

Prepare the Naan Dough:

½ cup milk
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon yogurt
1 egg
4 cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (for baking tray)

Whisk together the milk, sugar, water, yogurt and egg.

Place the flour, salt and baking powder in a large shallow bowl. Mix well.

Pour the liquid onto the flour and begin to knead. Continue kneading until you have a soft dough. If you need more liquid, add a few tablespoons of warm water. Knead for at least 10 minutes, or until you have a soft dough that is not sticky. Oil the dough, cover with a damp cloth and place in a warm place for 1½ - 2 hours, or until the dough has doubled in size.

While the dough is rising, prepare the filling:

2 small red onions, finely chopped
1small hot chili pepper, minced
1 tablespoon minced cilantro
1 teaspoon red chili powder
Salt to taste
3 tablespoons melted butter or clarified butter
2 teaspoons cilantro, minced for garnish
small boiled potato, grated (optional)

Squeeze out all the water from the chopped onions. If the onions still appear to be watery, add a small boiled grated potato to your filling. In a mixing bowl combine all the filling to form a lumpy consistency. Set aside until the dough has risen and is ready to form into kulchas.

Assembling the Onion Kulchas:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F, and lightly oil two baking sheets.

Lightly dust the rolling surface with flour. Roll the dough into a log and cut it into 8 equal portions. Take one portion of the dough and roll into a ball between the palms of your hands, flattening the ball. Place it on the floured surface and roll it out into a circle about 6 inches in diameter.

Add a tablespoon of the filling to the center and bring the sides up and together, pinching them to seal and form a ball (at this point I advise you to go and look at the excellent photos in the tutorial). Flatten lightly. Dust very lightly with flour. Roll again about 5 - 6 inches in diameter.

Dip your fingers in water and moisten the surface of the kulcha very lightly. Sprinkle with a few minced cilantro leaves. Continue until you have made 8 kulchas (four per baking sheet).

Place the kulchas in the oven for 5 minutes. Turn on the broiler and broil for an additional 3 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve hot.

Comments

[Suzana]

Mmmmmm, this looks so yummy! I've baked a filled foccacia a couple of days ago and everybody loved it. I'll have to try these lovely recipe. :)

[frenchtart]

oooh! i totally want to try this! bread is my downfall, my greatest food love. thanks for posting the link to the Northern Indian Breads tutorial. i love new internet reading material.

[giz]

I have a passion for flatbreads - this one looks amazing. Do you happen to have a recipe for Lebanese flatbread - my absolute favourite.

[Adele]

Oooh. Indian bread that doesn't require me to muck about with yeast? I am definitely trying this. :)

[katy]

oh gosh, YUM. these look amazing. and i love that there's no yeast! for some reason, even after baking bread at least a dozen times, i'm still a little scared of yeast recipes (and they take sooooo long!). i am definitely going to make this! and i'll look at the tutorial -- hopefully my stuffed-flatbread-making skills will improve!

[Chris]

Oh this is awesome -- one of my faves at Indian restaurants. Gotta try it!!!

[Karyn]

I'm taking the next train to New York. Just see if I don't.

[Manggy]

Yaay! Bookmarked. (Hee, I love that you said "threatened" to move in with you.) I have never tried Naan... or a lot of Indian/Middle Eastern food... (ugh, one of these days I will have to eat separately from my family... We have one wet blanket of a family friend who always tags along and is always scared of new things...)

Thank God our local "Bread Talk" carries Naan. Will give it a shot first.

[Susan]

I cook A LOT of Indian. Bread is next on the list. These are "almost" too beautiful to eat. ; )

[annechovie]

This looks amazing, Ann! You've also been tagged!
Here are the rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

[JEP]

Another drool-worthy photo!

[DocChuck]

Wonderful recipe for our favorite "dipping bread." Especially delicious with steamed mussels in a rich garlic butter sauce.

"Store bought" naan is ALWAYS a disappointment.

Thanks for the great method and the super photo.

[Ann]

Suzana, do try it, but coordinate things so that you're eating it hot out of the oven-- they're at their best that way!

frenchtart, let me know how it goes!

Giz, I'll be posting about Lebanese Flatbread in the near future...

Adele, it's very yum... do try it!

katy, those eGullet tutorials are wonderful. I always check there when I am trying something new to see if they've got a post or tutorial with ste-by-step instructions.

Chris, I hope you do give it a try. it was surprisingly easy.

karyn, empty threats... :-)

Manggy, if you do try it I'd really like to know what you think.

Susan, you won't think that after the first bite!

annechovie, thanks for the tag. I'm going to pass this one on to Jack, as I did one very similar to it last month. :-)

JEP, you're too kind. :-)

DocChuck, thanks for dropping by and for the nice compliments.

[MrsDocChuck]

My husband had me make this bread from a tube of refigerator biscuits and it came out very light and flaky. Onions give him gas, so I omitted them.

[DocChuck]

A woman with a few personal problems, "chiffOnade" is fantasizing about being "mrsdocchuck" again. Blog operator should check and report chiffOnade's proxy-server IP address to eliminate such drivel.

Louise ("chiffonade") posts all over the food blogs attempting to disrupt them and their respondents. She uses a "proxy server" to avoid further harassment lawsuits after being prosecuted in Brooklyn, NY.

[MrsDocChuck]

My husband owns several successful offshore proxy servers, serving proxies throughout The Orient and South America.

He will be traveling to Peru soon to serve some more!

[Chiffonade]

Your breads look amazing! I've never attempted a pita-like bread but have been very intrigued by them.

As you can see, you've been accosted by the Doc Chuck Contingent including Mrs. Doc Chuck and all the little Doc Chucklets. He's a professional TROLL who seems to need to attack people online - this week it's me. He has spread his venom all over the place, trying (in vain, I might add) to destroy my culinary reputation. I've had to clean up messes like the post dated January 25 by Doc Chuck. Doc Chuck has been arrested for online harassment of members of the Baxter Bulletin staff.

As you can see in the post dated January 25 by Mrs. Doc Chuck, he has embraced the "Semi-Homemade" lifestyle and this is one of the reasons he targets me. I am very vocal against the crap food pushed by the likes of Sandra Lee (who's got tube dough running in her veins). Doc Chuck uses several personas including that of his wife, Elizabeth.

If you ever want to actually contact me, please feel free to e-mail me at chiffonade@hotmail.com.

Keep cooking real food - there is nothing like it!
Chiffonade

[CocDuck]

Chiffonade of 2/4/2008 is correct. DocChuck and all the little Chuckies are trolls. He is a rascist troll and a horrid little man. You can learn more about him here, and then THINK TWICE before you allow him to post on your web blog.