Really, who knew I didn’t understand I really love chutneys! Yes, I really know now I do enjoy at least Apruna’s chutney she had us make for this Indian flat bread Kulcha! Wow this was marvelous. OK, I will confess, I wasn’t expecting much from the chutney so the first time I made the Kulcha we had it with some wonderful chicken and it’s accompanying gravy. It was wonderful. Then I thought, OK, maybe since I have most of the ingredients I should give the chutney a try. The one ingredient I didn’t have the Tamarind; a search suggested lime juice as a substitute and perhaps in my lack of experience it worked for me. Aparna’s looks very liquid and she told us it should be liquid … but mine was thick and chunky, just like I like it. I made both the Green Mint-Coriander Chutney and the Sweet and Sour Tamarind Chutney. Both the Chutneys were terrific but the Green Mint-Coriander was gone the fastest. I will try to do the Kulcha again as I rolled mine very thin and didn’t get the puffy that most Babes did. I call this a success even though it’s not authentic … we really enjoyed!

Aparna is our Kitchen of the Month so do check out her site for more authenticity than you’ll find here.

KULCHA (Flat Bread)

For the Khameer or Pre-Ferment :

1/2 tsp instant dry yeast

1 tsp sugar

1 cup flour – I used 1/2 cup white whole wheat + 1/2 cup all purpose

1 cup water

For Kulcha Dough :

All of the Khameer/ Pre-ferment 

1/2 tsp instant dry yeast

1 1/2 cups flour – I used 1/2 cup white whole wheat + 1 cup all-purpose

2 tbsp plain yogurt 

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tbsp ghee (or soft unsalted butter)

More water, if needed for a soft dough

For the Topping :

Nigella seeds or black sesame seeds

Chopped fresh coriander leaves/ cilantro

Ghee or unsalted butter for cooking the Kulchas

METHOD :

For the Khameer/ Pre-ferment (previous night) :

Mix together the yeast, water, sugar and all-purpose flour till smooth in a big bowl. Cover and leave on the kitchen counter overnight to ferment. 

For the Kulcha Dough (some time next morning) :

The Khameer/ pre-ferment should have risen well and will appear quite stringy. Mix in the other 1/2 tsp of yeast, all-purpose flour, yogurt, salt and a little water. Knead till you have a soft, sticky and loose dough. You don’t need a mixer for this. Your hand or a dough whisk is enough. This dough came together easily and was smooth.

Add the ghee or soft butter and knead once again till well incorporated. Shape into a round and leave in the bowl. Cover loosely and let it rise till almost double in volume.  This should take between an hour and two. 

Knead the dough lightly to de-gas it. Then divide into 6 equal portions. I divided my dough into 8 portions. Lightly flour your working surface, if required, and roll out each portion into a circle or oblong of less than 1/4 “ thickness. Sprinkle some Nigella seeds and dried fenugreek leaves or coriander leaves/ cilantro and lightly press into the rolled out dough. 

Heat a griddle or flat pan and place the rolled dough on it. Sprinkle a little water on the sides of the griddle/ pan (not on the dough) and cover. Cook the flat bread for a minute or so. Now remove the cover and cook on the other side as well. If not serving immediately, cook till here and keep aside. When ready to serve proceed further with cooking in ghee or butter as follows.

Now I know I should have made the Matar/Chola (White Peas Salsa) … but I didn’t. That means I still have something to add to this and look forward to.

GREEN MINT-CORIANDER CHUTNEY

Grind together a handful of fresh coriander/ cilantro leaves and tender stems, equal amount of mint leaves, green chillies, salt and a dash of lime juice with very little water till smooth. 

This chutney should be savoury, on the spicier side with a little tang and a bit watery in texture. Adjust all the ingredients to taste. This will keep in the fridge for a week.

SWEET & SOUR TAMARIND CHUTNEY 

(Makes 1 medium jar)

INGREDIENTS :

1 cup tamarind pulp thick

3/4 – 1 cups powdered jaggery 

1/2 cup dates loosely seedless , finely chopped packed

2 tbsps golden raisins, chopped

1 1/2 tsps chilli powder (or to taste)

1 tsp cumin powder

Salt or black salt to taste

METHOD :

Put the lime juice and sugar in a pan. Over medium heat, stir the mixture till the sugar (jaggery) dissolves. Now add all the remaining ingredients and cook till the chutney thickens a bit and takes on a shiny appearance. Allow to cool and use as needed. This chutney keeps in the fridge for a while.

The amounts of tamarind, jaggery, chilli powder and salt may be adjusted as required. This chutney should be sweet, sour and spicy.

I highly recommend both these chutneys even if you don’t have tamarind.

These are so good and really simple to put together. As you can see, we enjoyed these first with a chicken dinner before I made the chutneys. But, the chutney is the way I do them from now on.

Check out Aparna for the Matar/Chola Salsa, I know that is in my future. She’s made it look too good to miss.

We’d love for you to join us this month for our bake!  No blog is necessary to participate, a picture will do. Just send a picture or your post of your finished flatbread to our host kitchen by the 30th of this month.  New recipes are posted every month on the 16th. Check out our Facebook group to see the participants’ baking results during that time.