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Friday, April 23, 2010

Kulchas and Carrot & Beans in Peanut - Sesame Sauce



Long ago, I had tried home - version naans for a couple of times and felt that it is best left to restaurant chefs who own the neccessary ovens. Though skillet breads like para(n)thas and rotis can be mastered at home with experience, kulchas and naans are totally a different clan. They are usually made in the clay oven tandoor at temperatures around 700 deg F, where the dough is slapped against hot clay walls.
Recently the urge to prepare kulchas started when I noticed them on various blogs, where chefs happen to be home cooks like me. I chose and prepared DK's onion kulchas sans the stuffing. Here are those plain kulchas that I am sending over to Nupur's Blog Bites - CopyCat edition.

Ingredients to make around 12 kulchas:
3 cups Maida / Flour
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking Soda
4 Tbsp oil
1/2 cup Yogurt
1 tbsp Ghee

 Making rotis:
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Prepare a soft dough (like rotis) adding water as needed. Let the dough rest for a couple of hours or more. Then divide the dough into 12 equal portions and shape each one into a ball. Roll it out into a circle using a rolling pin. (I happened to roll them a little thicker than what I do usually.)
Fry them on a skillet on stovetop.
Serve them with melted butter and a side dish.
For dough consistency and frying any kind of roti/paratha on a skillet, check here.

My experience:
I tried both broiler and stovetop method. I feel stovetop ones were fried better (notice all those brown spots) than broiler ones. No offense, these kulchas can be tried at home but not a substitute for those tandoor baked kulchas. For the real deal, I would prefer a restaurant.

Carrot & Beans Subzi in Peanut - Sesame Sauce:
I usually go with this kind of sauce when preparing laukis but this time used for carrot - bean combo. This delicious gravy can be used for any combination of vegetables and this subzi is good with any kind of rotis.




Ingredients to serve 4:
4 tsp oil
1 tsp each - Chanadal & mustard seeds
1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
1 Onion - peeled and diced
1 Tomato - diced
Green beans, stringed and cut into 1" pieces - 1 cup
1 Big carrot - peeled and diced
1 tsp Sambhar powder
1 tsp Sugar / jaggery
Salt to taste
Ingredients to powder:  In a spice grinder, grind a handful of toasted and skinned peanuts + 2 Tbsp toasted, white colored sesame seeds + 1/4 cup dry coconut + lightly toasted 8 dried red chilies (I used byadagi chilies. If using other variety, adjust the quantity.)

Making Subzi:

  • Heat oil in a pan / kadai and add chanadal and mustard seeds. When chana starts to turn reddish, add turmeric powder and onions.
  • Fry on low - medium flame till the onion turns translucent.
  • Then add tomatoes and sauté them for a couple of minutes.
  • Next add carrots, beans and cook them tender adding as much water as needed.
  • Add the powdered ingredients, sambhar powder, salt and sugar to the cooked veggies. Mix well. Adjust the ingredients and the quantity of water, if needed.
  • Let it come to a rolling boil and then turn down the heat. Simmer the subzi for about 5 minutes.
Post a Comment

27 comments:

Trendsetters said...

lovely kulchas and side dish

PranisKitchen said...

delicious subzi.the kulcha is awesome..the combination is a best one..nice presentation.tempting pic.
the peanut and sesame sauce will give a nice flavor to this sabzi. the powder preparation with peanut and sesame is really interesting..good one.

Nupur said...

Suma- what a fantastic meal. I just love the tandoori breads in restaurants but your home made version looks wonderful!

Thanks for sending in a great entry.

harini-jaya said...

great clicks..I had made these like pitas in 400 deg oven and they turned out pretty good..subzi is awesome!

R said...

wow what an attractive presentation! so yummy! a true feast for the eyes and i am sure for the tummy too :)

Unknown said...

Lovely combination of kulchas and sabji..

Faiza Ali said...

Lovely kulchas dear and the curry too looks yummmy.

Unknown said...

Suma, they look super super tempting. I am surely going to try it.

Kalyani said...

looks delicious & nice click ..........

chakhlere said...

What a inviting snap ...the veg looks super yummy and kulchas look stunning.

Great click.

kitchen queen said...

delicious kulchas with nice side dish.

FewMinute Wonders said...

Very nice, that you have posted the kulcha recipe. It is always good to try out variations of the recipe.

Priya Suresh said...

Beautiful kulchas and delicious side dish, both together looks fantabulous..

Veggie Hut said...

lovely pics.. I love the colour of ur gravy.. mouthwatering..

Kiran said...

Wow Suma the kulchas and the curry look very delicious.

Kalai said...

Kulchas looks perfect with the tempting side dish! i wish I could grab a piece of it!

Sonia said...

Your food presentation is always makes me tempted! Nice combo. Have to try kulchas at home. I love your curry as well. :)

Deepthi Shankar said...

nice kulchas .. for some reason I too feel that certain dishes taste best at restaurants rather than home version

suma said...

Tempting combo!!

Nammaruchi.blogspt.com said...

Love the presentation... very inviting....

Aruna Manikandan said...

Lovely combination...
Kulcha's look perfect
Nice tempting clicks :-)

Simplyfood said...

Kulchas look lovely and I like the vibrant color of the gravy it looks rich and creamy.

Shabitha Karthikeyan said...

Suma..Kulcha and subzi looks yummy...awesome pic yaar!!!

Check out my first event at

http://myhomekitchenrecipes.blogspot.com/2010/04/my-first-event-celebrating-mom.html

Unknown said...

I am drooling over your pics, Suma..YUM!!

Madhavi said...

lovely kulchas.....looks yummy

Life is beautiful !!! said...

I always used to wonder what a kulcha is :) Now I know...they look perfectly round with golden brown spots.....lovely!!! Hope the side dish did justice to kulchas :)

SS blogs here said...

Hey Suma.. I too have been looking for really good kulcha recipes. Your kulchas here look great.