Top 11 Punjabi Breads

Coming from the North Indian city of Amritsari, Amritsari kulcha is a flatbread stuffed with potatoes, onions, cottage cheese, and spices. The flatbread is commonly garnished with coriander seeds, cilantro, and red chili powder. Thin, crispy, and smeared with ghee butter, it is a staple food in Amritsar, with almost every shop in the city sizzling with the sound of kulchas baked in large tandoor ovens. Not much is known about the history of this flavorful dish, and even the locals say that kulcha is just something they have always eaten, a variation on numerous flatbreads that the country is known for.Expand

Aloo paratha is one of the most popular breakfast foods in northern India, a flatbread stuffed with a spicy potato mixture. Its name is derived from aloo, denoting a potato, parat, denoting layers, and atta, denoting flour. The flatbread is made from whole-wheat flour, salt, and ghee, forming flaky, soft, and crispy layers that are golden-brown in color. The filling consists of mashed potatoes, ginger, green chilies, coriander, dried pomegranate seeds, chili powder, and salt. The dish is often topped with Indian homemade butter called makhan and it is traditionally served with chutneys, pickles, onions, and yogurt or tea on the side. Due to its popularity, it spread from Punjab to various parts of the Indian subcontinent, but also to Malaysia, Mauritius, Singapore and the Caribbean.Expand

Bhatura is a deep-fried, leavened bread with North Indian origins and a light, fluffy texture. Its unique texture is achieved by letting the dough ferment for almost one hour. The dough consists of flour, oil, baking powder, and yogurt. After the bread is fried, it is usually sprinkled with Indian masalas or stuffed with paneer. If it's stuffed with chickpea curry, it becomes another popular dish, known as chole bhatura, found at almost every street corner in North India. Bhatura's versatility is seen in kulcha, which is made with the same dough, but it is baked or cooked on a pan instead of being deep-fried.Expand

Gobi paratha is a traditional flatbread originating from North India. This type of paratha is stuffed with spiced cauliflower. The dough is made with a combination of flour, water, salt, and oil. Once shaped, it's stuffed with spiced cauliflower, fried on both sides and brushed with butter or ghee until golden brown and fully cooked. The stuffing is typically made with a combination of cauliflower, ginger, turmeric, red chili powder, coriander, cumin, garam masala powder, dry mango powder, and salt. It's recommended to serve gobi parathas hot with chutneys, curd, raita, or Indian pickles. The dish can be found on most street food stalls in the area, where vendors serve gobi paratha for breakfast.Expand

Paneer kulcha is a traditional dish that's especially popular in its flaky Amritsari-style version. The dish consists of leavened flatbread called kulcha that's stuffed with paneer cheese. Although there are many variations, the flatbread is usually stuffed with crumbled or grated paneer, chili peppers, coriander leaves, chaat masala, carom seeds, and salt. The dough for the kulcha is made with flour, dahi, ghee, sugar, salt, water, and baking soda and powder. Paneer kulcha is often prepared during winter, and it's traditionally cooked in a tandoor oven. Serve the dish with chole, raita, yogurt, or chutneys on the side.Expand

Kulcha is an Indian flatbread made with wheat flour, and it is commonly served as an accompaniment to chickpea curry. The bread is cooked in a tandoor or on a griddle, and it is usually brushed with ghee and served while still hot. Chewy and soft, it is also easily cooked on a traditional tawa, making it accessible both to the common people and royalty, a fact that led to its popularity in North India. In the royal kitchens, kulchas were typically stuffed with vegetables and meat. Kulcha was the official symbol of the Asaf Jahi dynasty, and it even appeared on the Hyderabad state flag, which additionally popularized the bread. Today, the most popular version of this bread is the Amritsari kulcha, stuffed with potatoes and traditionally served alongside Amritsari chana masala.Expand

Chur chur is a traditional flatbread and a variety of naan. The dough is usually made with flour, sugar, baking powder, ghee, salt, dahi, water, and oil. Once shaped, the dough is stuffed with a mixture of boiled and mashed potatoes, grated paneer, chopped onion, hot chili peppers, ginger, red chili powder, garam masala, amchur, cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper. The stuffed dough is baked in a tandoor or cooked on a tawa until it turns golden brown. Once done, chur chur naan is lightly crushed, then brushed with ghee or butter and served as it is. If desired, the flatbread can be garnished with grated paneer on top.Expand

Masala papad is a traditional snack and a version of papadum flatbread that’s topped with a mix of tangy and spicy ingredients. The flatbread is roasted or fried and it’s usually made with lentil, chickpea, or rice flour. After it’s been roasted or fried until crunchy, it’s topped with a mixture of onions, tomatoes, coriander, hot chili powder, lemon juice, chaat masala, and salt. It’s important to add the topping after the flatbread has been fried or roasted, otherwise it will get soggy. If desired, additional ingredients can be added to the topping, such as cucumbers, mint leaves, carrots, or raw mango. Masala papad is traditionally served as a snack or an appetizer, but it can also be served as an accompaniment to various Indian meals.Expand

Roti is a flat, unleavened whole wheat bread, visually similar to a pancake, cooked on a traditional iron griddle called tawa, a key element of the rural cuisine of Punjabi. It is one of the most basic breads in India, a cross between pita bread and a tortilla that is buttered on one side. Makki ki roti is made from makai atta cornmeal flour, salt, and water, and once it's done, it is brushed with ghee and traditionally served piping hot with sarson da saag (cooked mustard leaves and spices), especially during the winter months. It is yellow in color and quite different from wheat flour roti. The bread is healthy, simple, nutritious and easy to prepare, so it is not a wonder that it can be found in most Punjabi homes.Expand

Missi roti is a North Indian variety of roti, an unleavened flatbread made by combining whole wheat flour, gram flour, salt, water, and a blend of freshly ground Indian spices such as red chili powder, cumin seed powder, carom seed powder, turmeric, coriander, and crushed dry pomegranate seeds. The resulting dough is often enhanced with sliced green chilis and finely chopped vegetables such as onions, spinach, or fenugreek leaves. The dough is then rolled into flat disks before it is traditionally cooked on a hot iron griddle called tawa until brown and slightly crispy. This spiced flatbread is usually brushed with ghee or oil and it's traditionally served piping hot with a wide variety of chutneys, curries, sabzis (mixed vegetable dishes), mixed lentil dishes, pickles, or curd. Missi roti commonly accompanies Indian breakfasts, but it can be eaten at any time of the day, and with any meal.Expand