Tigers Experience: Tigers Experience - Harbans Kulcha Shop

Why is Amritsar known as the Kulcha Land of the country ?

My Guess .. Persian Influence - the art of making naans came down from the north west frontier for sure Kabul Peshawar route to Pakistan .. and once it entered India it got the Punjabi influence , who started experimenting with the naan stuffing it with different things and since the tandoor already existed here it became easier for the society to adopt to Kulchas ... Like i was mentioning somewhere all Truck drivers became dhaba owners , they became the carriers of food and food concepts across the country . Amritsar being the first city on the borders of India became the first to get all the best of the frontier - dry fruits , meats ,breads and people.

Having said that all the good kulchas guys in Amritsar are from the new age - which is Now , not many of them have a history to back them .

So i have this amazing Doctor friend in Amritsar - Dr Aman Kahlon.. a senior Gastro Surgeon by mistake and a foodie by authority . He is the man to know in the city .. he can really feed you til u r actually FED UP ... The best part about the Busy Doctor is that he would do anything for a friend .. he would go out of his way to make you eat and eat and eat til u catch the train back home . His Knowledge and command on Indian - specifically Punjabi cuisine is commendable .. the man cooks some real mean Meat . He has a farm with all the animals ,he owns a couple of horses , ducks , a dangerous dog and a number of cows . He lives his life Fresh from the Farm. He was my Host for just two days .

So he discovered this dhaba in the middle of a colony , dunno which route he took how many lefts and how many rights he took to reach this place .. we were the first customers . The tandoor takes time to get to the peak of the heat hence had to wait a bit , so while Daktar Sahab went to romance the guys in his Pure theth Punjabi I got busy clicking the dhaba , its owners and the delicious kulchas.

The Dhaba

Rustic , Clean , No frills Just HOT SUMPTUOUS GOOD FOOD !! what else do u want .

The Kulcha Crew

Amazing crew - in modern terms they are called The Catering Division . The guys are well trained to execute kulcha making in their portable tandoors . They do a lot of wedding and party caterings but Latti doesnt go himself - he likes being at the shop serving his loyal customers.

The Man

The story about latti is that he had a Redi (Street Cart) , and with his hard work over the years he has bought three shops in this locality . He survives only on kulcha Sales no other dish available , not even cold drinks . Which is amazing .

The Tandoor Warming Up

Divinity In Disguise

Butter being dabbed on the Kulcha - this is the magic .

The Famous Channa and Chutney

But i wonder where this combination of Kulcha Channa and this very peculiar chutney came from . (The chutney is imly ka paani , with Pyaaz as simple as that )

Sorry to Disappoint You , Im not able to scroll down to type anything more , im feeling weak , my mouth is watering , the stomach is grumbling , the mind is totally diverted ... serious .. be careful.

And here comes the KING Kulcha

Crisp Kulcha

Check out the Crispyness of the Kulcha , uuuummmmmmph ... love the colours .

Flaky Kulcha

You need to have well pounded maida to get the flakyness int he kulchas .. combined with perfect heat and timming .Not many I know can get this right .

Delicious Stuffing

Did Ya DROOOooooooooooooool!!!!!!!!!! Heheheheheheheh Nothing much to write left now . What an amazing kulcha CRISP ,Flaky , Right Size , Beautiful simple masaledar stuffing , amazing butter floating on it to make u even more guilty ..

I did ask Latti about the magic of his Kulchas and can he come to any other city and open shop .. the guy was plain simple - he said its the water which does the magic rest is in the hands and the food appreciator as simple as that . He has tried venturing out of ASR but not successful - people , crew , water material is totally different and expensive .

Daktar Aman Kahlon

Food Credits go to this dear friend of Mine - a Foodie , A doctor , a Tommy Fan in Amritsar . And seems to me no street food guy opens his shop without the Doctors Blessing.

Overall Experience : There is no place like Amritsar for FOOD . And yes im a firm believer of eating the food produced at its place of origin . The Kulchas are truly the best i have ever had .. much better than the most frequented ones by the tourist .

Sorry guys if u wanted to read more , but for the first time i let the pictures tell the story :)