Paneer Kulcha Recipe
Paneer kulcha embodies leavened flatbreads filled with a seasoned and savory filling of Indian cottage cheese. These flatbreads are skillfully prepared on a skillet or tawa, resulting in a delectable balance of crispiness and soft, tender texture in the kulcha.
Ingredients
For Kulcha Dough
For Paneer Stuffing
- 200 grams paneer (Indian cottage cheese)
- 3 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves
- 1 or 2 green chilies – chopped or ½ to 1 teaspoon finely chopped
- ¼ teaspoon red chilli powder
- ¼ teaspoon garam masala
- ¼ teaspoon carom seeds (ajwain) – swap cumin seeds with carom seeds
- ½ teaspoon dry mango powder (amchur powder)
- salt as required
- oil or ghee as required for roasting
- butter as required
- sesame seeds as required – optional
Instructions
Make Kulcha Dough
- In a mixing bowl take all the ingredients mentioned "for kulcha dough" above, except water.
- Then with a spoon or with your fingers lightly mix everything.
- First add ¼ cup water. Add water in parts while kneading. The amount of water to be added, depends on the quality of flours. So add accordingly.
- Mix and then begin to knead.
- Add 2 to 3 tablespoons more water or as required and knead to a smooth soft dough. Cover the dough with a moist kitchen towel and keep aside for 2 hours for it to leaven.
Making Paneer Stuffing
- Before preparing kulcha, crumble or grate paneer. If the paneer is fresh and soft, then you can crumble easily . Ensure that you make a fine crumble and not uneven with large chunks as these may come out from the dough while rolling.
- Add all the herbs, ground spices powders and salt to the paneer.
- Mix the spices and herbs with the crumbled paneer very well.
- Check the taste and add more of the salt, green chilies, red chili powder, garam masala powder and dry mango powder if required. Cover and keep aside.
Stuffing And Rolling Paneer Kulcha
- After 2 hours, lightly knead the dough again.
- Make medium sized balls from the kulcha dough. If you want you can keep the dough balls covered with moist kitchen napkin for another 15 to 20 minutes before stuffing and rolling.
- Dust the dough balls with some whole wheat flour.
- With a rolling pin, roll it into a diameter of 5 to 6 inches diameter.
- Place 2 to 3 tablespoons of the paneer stuffing in the center. Keep 1 to 1.5 inches space all over the circumference.
- Bring the edges together and join them at the center.
- Press the joined edges at top and sprinkle some sesame seeds.
- Press the sesame seeds with your fingers or very lightly with the rolling pin so that they get stuck to the dough. Adding sesame seeds is optional. You can skip it.
- Sprinkle some flour as needed and gently roll to a large disc of about 6 to 7 inches in diameter.
Making Paneer Kulcha
- On a hot tava or skillet, gently place the stuffed kulcha.
- Flip over when one side is partly cooked. Spread some ghee or oil on this side of paneer kulcha. The amount of ghee or oil to be added, depends upon you. You can either add less or more or skip it altogether.
- Flip again and spread some ghee or oil on this second cooked side.
- Flip again a few times as needed to ensure even roasting and cooking. Press the edges with a spatula to ensure that they are cooked.
- Once evenly cooked and roasted, place the paneer kulcha in a roti basket. Add ½ to 1 teaspoon of butter and spread it with a butter knife or spoon.
- Make all the paneer kulcha with the above method and stack them up in the roti basket. You can also choose to serve them straightaway from the skillet or tawa to the plate.
- After making each paneer kulcha, wipe the skillet or tawa with a cotton kitchen towel to get rid of the browned or burnt flour particles.
- Serve paneer kulcha hot or warm with butter, curd or mango pickle or punjabi chole or any chana curry of your choice.
Nutrition
Calories: 190kcalCarbohydrates: 17gProtein: 5gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 310mgPotassium: 58mgFiber: 2gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 82IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 97mgIron: 1mg
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