Kulcha and fixings

 

 For September, Aparna, of My Diverse Kitchen, was the Kitchen of the Month, and tasked us to make kulcha, an Indian bread, accompanied by a chickpea salsa and a tamarind chutney.  Having just finished cooking from a new Indian cookbook in August, I had all of the ingredients and techniques at hand.

First, I made the chutney.  It seemed a little thick and was definitely tart, but, it was a good compliment for the chickpea salsa.

The chickpea salsa was next.  The dried chickpeas took nearly all day to cook to a somewhat mashable consistency, but the resulting salsa was tasty with the fresh tomatoes, especially so when paired with the very tart tamarind chutney.

Finally, it was time to make the kulcha dough.  First, there was a preferment, made the night before.  No issues there.  Then, the following morning, it was time to add the remaining ingredients and let the dough rise for a final time before cooking.  Having recently, and successfully, made naan, I was ready to go.

Let’s just say that the first kulcha took one for the team.  It stuck firmly to a non-stick pan.

I went to Plan B, which was to use the naan cooking technique I had learned in August, a very similar technique, but with successful results.

However, 24 hours later, I remembered that I was supposed to sprinkle the dough with nigella seeds (stored in the refrigerator), so that was a fail. 

I didn’t screw up this challenge too badly, and the end results made a filling and delicious lunch. 

 

Join the Babes in September, and enjoy some delicious bread.  

 

 

• Blog from OUR Kitchen – Elizabeth 
• A Messy Kitchen – Kelly
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories – Karen
• My Diverse Kitchen – Aparna  (Kitchen of the Month)
• Bread Experience – Cathy
• Thyme for Cooking - Katie
• My Kitchen in Half Cups - Tanna
• Feeding My Enthusiasms - Elle