Whenever we think of Delhi’s food culture, the first thing that comes to everyone’s mind is definitely the Matar Kulcha. Delhi’s streets are flooded with Matar Kulcha stalls and every stall is famous in its locality for a different and unique taste. The biggest reason for Matar Kulcha’s popularity is that it is tastier and can easily settle down your hunger and that too in budget. The working class of Delhi-NCR is highly dependent on these Matar Kulcha stalls for their breakfast and lunch. But what when you can also cook this very tasty street food right in your kitchens with the same taste? So let’s get started.
It is true that Matar Kulcha is quite very famous in Delhi but you’ll get surprised after knowing that it has its roots from Amritsar. Yes, you might have heard about the popularity of Amritsari Kulcha. This is the place from where this Kulcha actually originated. However, Kulcha is also popular in several parts of Northern India but with different names and types. Kulcha in parts except Amritsar is a simple round bread made with Maida. But in Amritsar, Kulcha is specially a flat-bread, filled with stuffing like chilly boiled potato or vegetables like gobhi, onion, paneer, etc.
Well, another theory claims that Kulcha came from the Mughal era. The story says that once Shah Jehan was served stuffed Kulcha by his royal chef and the king loved it so much that it became a crucial part of their meal. So a dish with this great history and popularity especially in North India must be known for you to cook.
Preparation: 08 hours
Cooking: 30 minutes
Serving: 2-3
Ingredients For Dilli Matar:
1. 1 cup of dried white peas (soaked and pressure cooked)
2. ½ cup of tomato sliced
3. 3 tbsp lemon juice
4. 1 tbsp chaat masala
5. 1 tbsp yellow chilly powder
6. 1 tsp salt
7. 4-5 pieces of dried raw mango (or amchoor)
8. ¼ cup of water
Ingredients For Topping:
1. ¼ cup of onion roughly sliced
2. ¼ cup of tomato roughly sliced
3. 1 green chili slit (pickle)
4. ¼ cup of grated radish
5. ¼ cup of coriander leaves
Ingredients For Kulcha:
1. 300 gms maida
2. ½ cup of warm water
3. 1 tbsp sugar
4. 1 tbsp yeast
5. 1 tsp salt
6. 1 tbsp curds
7. 2 tbsp oil
Method:
1. For Kulcha: Take a bowl and add Refined Flour, Yeast, Yogurt, Oil, Salt and make a dough out of it. Now keep the dough aside for sometime and then cut the dough into small pieces. After this, heat the pan, shape the kulcha, dab some oil on the working table and apply some on the dough too, so that it doesn't dry off. This will be followed by flattening the ball using a rolling pin. Once the pan is hot, shift the kulcha onto the pan. Now cook it on both sides and hence, your Delhi style Kulcha is ready.
2. For Matar: Take a bowl and add some white peas, amchoor water, yellow chilly powder, chaat masala, coriander, salt, onions, tomatoes, green chilies, radish, lime juice and mix them well. Now add toppings of tomatoes, radish, onions and chilies and serve it with hot kulchas.
Boondi Raita is often served along with Matar Kulcha that gives an extra spicy flavour to the mouth. Boondi Raita is also an easy to cook item that barely takes 20 minutes.