Kulchas

Its the 6th day of the Blogging Marathon and I definitely had a blast making these delicious Indian breads. I also started thinking why I avoid making rotis and I think I can't when I CAN make decent Indian breads. After a lot of thinking, I decided that I don't like making individual portions of anything, I prefer mass production. I don't like making samosas, laddoos or puris, but I love cooking dishes that can feed 4 people without much fuss. That explains why I prefer making a loaf of bread than make 12 rotis for dinner.

Hopefully after this marathon, I can get over my denial and make Indian breads more often. For today's Indian bread, I made the most frequently asked roti in restaurants, Kulchas. Kulchas are leavened flat-bread made with flour, yogurt, baking powder, baking soda and egg. The leavening principle of kulcha is similar to bhaturas and American buttermilk biscuits. The lactic acid in yogurt reacts with baking soda to make the dough light and rise. The baking powder helps continue the leavening during the cooking. Protein in the egg strengthens the structure of the leavening.

To make the Kulchas a little more healthy, I used whole-wheat pastry flour for part of the all-purpose flour. This didn't affect the texture or the taste and may be next time, I'll add a little more ww pastry flour.

What did I learn: The Mystery (Chemistry) of making Kulchas.

Ingredients:

All-purpose flour - 2½ cups
Whole-wheat Pastry flour - 1½cups (or use 4 cups of All-purpose flour)

Yogurt - ½cup
Salt - ¼tsp
Baking soda - ¼tsp
Baking powder - 1tsp
Sugar - ¼tsp
Ghee - 2tbsp
Egg - 1
Butter or ghee - for brushing (I used Earth Balance butter)

Method:
Sift flours, salt, baking soda, baking powder in a large bowl.Beat yogurt, egg, sugar and ghee until well combined.Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix well to form a smooth dough. Add water if needed.Knead the dough for 10 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap or damp towel and set aside for about 2-4 hours.Preheat oven to 450°F.Knead the dough for 5 minutes and divide it into 8 equal parts. Roll each ball into round or oval shaped discs.Bake 2 or 3 kulchas at a time on a greased baking sheet for 6-8 minutes or until light brown spots form on the bread. Brush with ghee/ butter once done.

Lets see what my fellow marathoners BM#4 have been cooking up today.