Bread

Keema Kulcha

Name: Keema Kulcha
Total time: 2 h 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour (maida); 2 tsp instant dry yeast; 2 tsp sugar; 8 g fine sea salt (about 1.5% of the flour) — for the dough; 4 tsp butter; 240 ml lukewarm milk; water, as needed for dough; 400 g chicken mince (keema); 1 medium onion, finely chopped; 2 tsp ginger-garlic, finely chopped; 0.5 tsp cumin powder; 0.25 tsp turmeric powder; 0.25 tsp garam masala; 2 green chillies, finely chopped; 3 tsp fresh coriander, finely chopped; 2 tbsp butter (for cooking keema); 5 g fine sea salt — for the keema; 3 tbsp butter (for brushing); 1 tsp nigella seeds (kalonji)

Keema kulcha is a stuffed flatbread that doubles as a meal — spiced minced chicken sealed inside a soft, yeast-leavened dough and baked in a searingly hot oven until the outside bubbles and chars while the keema inside stays moist. Serve with a raita and you need nothing else.

2 hr 30 minServes 4 medium

Method

Activate the yeast: dissolve it with the sugar and the dough salt in lukewarm water. Cover and wait 10–20 minutes until frothy. No froth means dead yeast or water too hot — start again.
Make the dough: combine flour, yeast mixture, milk and enough warm water to form a soft dough. Knead well, rub with butter, cover and leave to prove in a warm place for 1–2 hours until doubled.
Make the keema filling: melt 2 tbsp butter in a pan, add ginger-garlic and sauté for 2 minutes . Add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the chicken mince, the keema salt, cumin, turmeric, garam masala and green chillies. Cook for 10–15 minutes until the mince is completely dry and cooked through — it should be white throughout with no pink (an internal 74 °C / 165 °F). Stir in coriander leaves, tip onto a plate and cool completely. The keema is fully cooked here, so the bake only needs to crisp the bread.
Preheat oven to 240 °C (grill-and-convection mode).
Divide the proved dough into tennis-ball-sized portions. Flatten a piece in your palm, place a generous spoonful of keema in the centre, gather the edges up and seal tightly. Gently flatten the stuffed ball by hand or roll it carefully — do not press so hard the filling bursts through.
Scatter nigella seeds on top and press them in lightly.
Bake for about 1.5 minutes per side until puffed and golden with light charring.
Brush generously with butter as soon as they come out. Serve hot.

Cook's note. The keema must be completely dry before stuffing — any excess moisture will make the dough soggy and tear when you try to roll it.

The story

Kulcha is leavened bread from the Punjab and the wider North Indian belt, closely related to naan but traditionally stuffed. Keema-stuffed kulcha was a staple of the roadside dhabas of Lahore and Amritsar — cities where bread and meat have always been inseparable — and the tradition crossed the border into India with Partition.