Abishek Sehdev | Posted on 17th March 2018
We were tired. We had woken up at four in the morning to see the Palki Sahib procession at the Golden Temple in Amritsar where they bring out the holy book at the crack of dawn. We tasted the divine kada prasad there, and then went on to Kanha Sweets to have a lavish breakfast of pooris and potatoes, where we also tried a very interesting sweet and tangy curry which we washed down with a glass of lassi; followed by Gulab Jamuns at Sharma’s. We walked down the lanes of Amritsar in the sultry heat to the Jallianwala Bagh as part of a heritage walk run by Punjab Tourism. In between, we stopped to eat jalebis, freshly fried at Gurcharan Das in Jalebiwala Chowk. It was possibly one of the best jalebis I have ever tasted.
It was hot. We were tired (did I mention that already?). All we wanted to do was to get back to the hotel and have a shower and rest a bit so that we were fresh for the evening. We groaned at the prospect of getting down and at the thought of more food. But then, this entreaty was coming from a chef of a Michelin-starred restaurant in NYC, Junoon, and a judge of MasterChef India, the heartthrob of many cookery show fans on Indian Television, Chef Vikas Khanna.
How could we not be touched by his enthusiasm?
So we did get down from the air-conditioned cocoon of the bus and joined Khanna at the Maqbool Kulcha Shop, which he had written about in his book too. It was an open shop with a thatched cover. There were a few plastic chairs where families sat and ate kulchas. Khanna ran (the secret of his slim frame?) to the oven in which the kulchas were being made and said “this is where I learned to make kulchas. When I first came here, I was shorter than the oven. They used to use this as a measure of my height”.
The next afternoon I was waiting at our hotel, The Holiday Inn, for the bus to take us to the airport. Lunch was arranged for us at the hotel buffet but I decided to step out to a restaurant called Kulcha Land outside the hotel.
I was a bit intrigued by the kulchas that I ate on my trip. They seemed a lot like the parathas that we had eaten at Murthal, which were baked in a tandoor and not fried on a tawa. So I went to the kitchen and asked the cooks about this. They explained to me that kulchas are made with maida or refined flour while parathas are made with whole wheat flour. The traditional filling of kulchas are either spiced mashed potatoes or crumbled paneer or Indian cottage cheese. Kulchas are always served with chole, the spicy chickpea curry. A generous dollop of butter is added on top of it. A good kulcha is crisp outside while the stuffing inside is soft, moist and flavor-packed, leading to a multi-textural and multi-sensorial culinary experience. Do let them cool down a bit before you bite into them.
“You will really love the kulcha here. Please believe me. I know you are tired and want to get back to the hotel. Let us stop the bus for just five minutes. I will go down and get you the kulchas. You sit in the AC. Trust me”.
We were tired. We had woken up at four in the morning to see the Palki Sahib procession at the Golden Temple in Amritsar where they bring out the holy book at the crack of dawn. We tasted the divine kada prasad there, and then went on to Kanha Sweets to have a lavish breakfast of pooris and potatoes, where we also tried a very interesting sweet and tangy curry which we washed down with a glass of lassi; followed by Gulab Jamuns at Sharma’s. We walked down the lanes of Amritsar in the sultry heat to the Jallianwala Bagh as part of a heritage walk run by Punjab Tourism. In between, we stopped to eat jalebis, freshly fried at Gurcharan Das in Jalebiwala Chowk. It was possibly one of the best jalebis I have ever tasted.
It was hot. We were tired (did I mention that already?). All we wanted to do was to get back to the hotel and have a shower and rest a bit so that we were fresh for the evening. We groaned at the prospect of getting down and at the thought of more food. But then, this entreaty was coming from a chef of a Michelin-starred restaurant in NYC, Junoon, and a judge of MasterChef India, the heartthrob of many cookery show fans on Indian Television, Chef Vikas Khanna.
We were in Amritsar as part of a food tour organized by a mobile phone company to test their phone camera and to attend the launch of Vikas Khanna’s book in Amritsar. Vikas Khanna, an erstwhile Amritsar boy, took it upon himself to be our de facto city guide. His enthusiasm was infectious. He would break into Punjabi, and run from place to place chasing childhood memories while we tried to catch up with him. He didn’t believe in handshakes and would hug everyone. From elderly aunties to the gentleman selling aam papad. The smile would never leave his face.
How could we not be touched by his enthusiasm?
So we did get down from the air-conditioned cocoon of the bus and joined Khanna at the Maqbool Kulcha Shop, which he had written about in his book too. It was an open shop with a thatched cover. There were a few plastic chairs where families sat and ate kulchas. Khanna ran (the secret of his slim frame?) to the oven in which the kulchas were being made and said “this is where I learned to make kulchas. When I first came here, I was shorter than the oven. They used to use this as a measure of my height”.
We tried the freshly made kulchas and they were indeed way better than the ones we had outside a shop near the Golden Temple earlier that morning. I asked Khanna the name of the shop where we were and he said: “just ask anyone for kulcha shop at Maqbool Road”. “Does the Taj Mahal need an address?” he asked with good-natured Punjabi drama. This shop is also known as the All India Famous Kulcha and I had first read about it in Pamela Timm’s book Kheer, Korma & Kismet.
The next afternoon I was waiting at our hotel, The Holiday Inn, for the bus to take us to the airport. Lunch was arranged for us at the hotel buffet but I decided to step out to a restaurant called Kulcha Land outside the hotel.
I was a bit intrigued by the kulchas that I ate on my trip. They seemed a lot like the parathas that we had eaten at Murthal, which were baked in a tandoor and not fried on a tawa. So I went to the kitchen and asked the cooks about this. They explained to me that kulchas are made with maida or refined flour while parathas are made with whole wheat flour. The traditional filling of kulchas are either spiced mashed potatoes or crumbled paneer or Indian cottage cheese. Kulchas are always served with chole, the spicy chickpea curry. A generous dollop of butter is added on top of it. A good kulcha is crisp outside while the stuffing inside is soft, moist and flavor-packed, leading to a multi-textural and multi-sensorial culinary experience. Do let them cool down a bit before you bite into them.
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