A thousand miles to enjoy Amritsari Khulcha

A couple plans a holiday. But much before the destination is fixed start a hilarious exchange of views and opinions on the proposed spot. Kallol is attracted to the snow clad mountains and snow fall. I am afraid to walk on the slippery snow for fear of hurting my bones when I fall, which has happened in almost all our earlier trips. The beautiful play of sun and shadow on the snow capped mountains has kept the photographer in Kallol busy capturing the right moment.

Today we are senior citizens. The foodie within me was more keen to explore new delicacies in mecca of food Amritsar. In particular I was on the lookout for the best Amritsari Khulcha. They say an Amritsari chef refuses to cook his Khulcha in any other place outside Amritsar, the reason being he has no access then to the sweet water of Amritsar. I had therefore no option but to travel a thousand miles to taste the Amritsari Khulcha. So Amritsar it was for me. Kallol thought of a middle path. Let's first go to Palampur in Himachal Pradesh and watch at a short distance the snow clad mountains and then proceed to Amritsar.

Our hotel in Amritsar was a stone's throw away from the famous Golden Temple. Everyday early morning and late evening we would visit the Golden Temple and enjoy the serene atmosphere.

The day was spent tasting different delicacies we had so meticulously studied and gathered through food sites and the internet.

Just outside our hotel there was a row of battery operated auto-rickshaws. Disciplined drivers eagerly waited for their turn to ferry passengers. I think they had an unwritten rule. Whoever was booked first by the hotel guest would get the preference of ferrying the same passenger through their entire stay. We got the services of one Joginder Singh Pehelwan. True to his name he looked more like a pehelwan than an auto driver. As we came to know later this strong exterior of the pehelwan had a soft heart.

 

It was our 2nd last day in Amritsar. Our itenary mentioned Amritsari Khulcha. Since only 1 meal was allotted for this dish I had decided to taste the best this city had to offer. A detailed study of the various joints, interaction with the locals on this subject, I even got the opportunity to speak the owner of the famous Kesar Da Dhaba where we had a meal a day earlier. Almost all had advised the same destination. A Dhaba near chungi wala corner.

Our day started with our visit to the temple. We bowed to the Guru and prayed for our and our family and friends well being. Some friends messaged me "your every wish shall be granted here". This is the Holiest of Holy places. We walked out feeling blessed. Kallol asked me to relax on the bench and he went to an ATM to withdraw cash. He returned in a few minutes with a worried expression. NO CASH a board hung at the ATM door. Our cash in hand was almost over. We had a flight to catch next evening. We walked towards our hotel discussing the options before us should we not get any cash, a local at the ATM had told him most ATMs were dry. This was the month of February 2017.

Joginder Singh Pehelwan was waiting for us. He read the anxiety on our faces and was curious to know our problem. On knowing it was for a few thousand rupees in pure Punjabi he said "no problem", I will take you to an ATM, there are hundreds on the way". If you fall short of cash pay me at a later date. With his assurances we hopped on to his auto-rickshaw. Now the Khulcha was forgotten what mattered was an ATM with cash. Through lanes and by lanes we drove through the flood of humanity, markets with sellers and buyers, handcarts, two wheeler and cars. It was an organized chaos. Each person unmindful of the presence of the other human or cattle. Through all this our eyes were fixed on spotting the ATM. Even Joginder Singh Pehalwan had his eyes off the road and on the side walk looking for an ATM with cash. Today was a bank holiday. The cheque  book in our purse was of no help. We just realized what it is to have an empty pocket when your bank account has the requisite cash.
I personally never had the experiance of standing in long queues outside bank and searching for an ATM that had cash during the demonetization period. Stories of people's problems was what I would read in newspapers and watch on TV. Today I was a victim of that cash crunch 3 months after demonetization.
As the signal turned red Joginder Singh Pehelwan informed us that we were closed to the dhaba. Within minutes we got off and saw a small dhaba, 2 tables and a few plastic chairs. This was our destination for one of the best Amritsari Khulchas in this city.

A mud platform with a tandoor fitted into it, just 4 employees worked in this place. One filled the atta balls with the potato mixture, the next patted it in to around it and garnished it with some herbs and slapped it on the tandoor wall. In a few minutes the hot khulcha was out and the 3rd spread a generous dollop of butter, The fourth would plate it with a bowl of chana, some chatni and an onion salad and place it before the hungry customer.
The first morsel was heaven. Can a simple dish like this give such heavenly pleasure. I was enjoying every bite of it. All ingredients in this meal are available all over the world, then what was it that gave this unique taste. As belived by all chef it is the sweet water of Amritsar. That just why you have to travel a thousand miles to taste this simple but tasty khulcha.

I could not get the recipe from the Dhaba as they were all busy serving hungry customers.

Back home I looked around for the same recipe to replicate the dish in my kitchen and serve it to my loved one. The recipe goes like this:

AMRITSARI KHULCHA & CHOLE:

• 1 Cup Chole soaked overnight.
• 1 Tea bag.
• 1 Tsp Jeera powder
• 1/2 Tsp Chilli powder
• 1 Tsp Dry Mango Powder (Amchur)
• 1 Bayleaf
• 1/2 Tsp Ajwain seeds
• A pinch of Hing
• 1 Tsp Ginger paste
• 1 Onion ground to a paste
• 1 Chopped green chilli 
• 1 Medium Tomato pureed
• 1 Tomato roughly sliced
• 1 Medium Potato boiled cut in to 8 pieces and deep fried
• 2 Tsp Lime juice
• 3 Tbsp Oil
• Salt to taste

Dry Spice:

• 1 Tsp Jeera
• 4 Cloves
• 8 Black peppercorns
• A small piece of Mace
• 1 Black Cardomom
• 1/2 inch Cinnamon stick
• 1 Tsp Coriander seed
• 2 Dry Red Chilli

Dry roast all the above ingredients and grind to fine powder

Garnishing:

Chopped coriander leaves green chillies and ginger julians.


METHOD:

Boil Chole with tea bag and 2 cups water in a pressure cooker.
When cooked strain the mixture, throw away the tea bag and preserve the liquid for further use.
In a kadai heat oil add hing, ajwain seeds and bayleaves. Saute for a few seconds, add onion paste and cook till it turn light brown. Add tomato puree and cook till oil separates, add boiled chole, chilli powder and 1 teaspoon of the ground spices, dry mango powder, salt, and half of the reserve liquid, mix well and cook for 5-7 mins. Add tomato slices and cook for 2 mins. Add the fried potatoes mix, remove from flame, add lime juice and stir well. Garnish with coriander leaves, green chilli and ginger julian.

AMRITSARI KHULCHA:

Ingredients:

• 1/1/2 Plain flour (Maida)
• 1/1/2 Wheat flour
• 1 Tsp Baking powder
• 1/4th Tsp Soda
• 2 Tbsp Oil
• 1/2 Tsp salt
• 1 Tsp Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Curd
• Water as required

Stuffing:

• 2 Boiled Potatoes and then grated
• 2 Chopped green chillis
• 2 Tbsp chopped coriander leaves
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 Tsp Amchur
• 1 Tsp Chat Masala
• 1/2 Tsp Red chilli powder or more according to taste

Topping:

• Chopped Coriander leaves
• Nigella seeds (Kalonji)

Method:

In a mixing bowl add both flours, baking powder, soda, salt and sugar. Whisk well. Make a well in the centre add oil curd and water and knead into a soft dough. Cover dough with wet muslin cloth and set aside for 2 hours.
Mix together all ingredients under stuffing and divide into 4 balls.
Take an orange sized ball from the dough into a size of a Puri. Place one portion of the stuffing in the centre, bring together all sides and roll into a medium thick roti. Top the roti with a sprinkle of Kallonji and Coriander leaves, apply some water on top of this khulcha and put it on a hot tava wet side down so it sticks to the tava. Cook on medium flame. WQhen Khulcha starts to puff up turn tava upside down and cook Khulcha on direct flame. When cooked put a dollop of butter and serve with lacha onions, green chutney and chole.

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