Kulcha with the capital’s K

Representative Image

Throw generous amounts of butter on a pan, place the kulcha over and let the outside turn crisp - ekdum kadak, laal, just like you get on the streets of Delhi - then have it with the gravy of your choice. Mazaa aa jayega [it will be amazing]," television host and actor Samir Kochhar tells us while the kulcha hamper was on its way to us.

Even over a telephone call, he is able to make this writer's mouth water, speaking from the heart, one foodie to another. Kochhar turns food entrepreneur with his new venture KulchaBros, which he launched recently with four of his school and college friends from Delhi - actor and funny man Cyrus Sahukar, F&B veteran Angad Chachra, and entrepreneurs Vikas Khanna and Nikhil Uppal.

Samir Kochhar and Cyrus Sahukar

An idea that was born over long Zoom chats during the COVID-induced lockdown has its roots in nostalgia. "First off, KulchaBros doesn't offer the Amritsari kulcha," says Sahukar. "We realised that Mumbai lacked the quintessential naan kulcha culture. It's a Delhi thing. Everyone there has a favourite matra-kulcha guy, whom they swear by. We grew up eating it for breakfast, lunch and during evening snacks too. It's what filled our hearts and soul," says Sahukar. Kochhar agrees. "Back home, you'd find these vendors outside schools, colleges and offices where people queue up for matra-kulcha. I stayed in S block and Cyrus was a resident of E block and we had our own favourites. We'd often argue about who had the better matra-kulcha vendor."

Surrounded by food delivery options in the pandemic, they thought of using a similar cloud kitchen platform to bring the most loved of north Indian foods to Mumbai and the rest of India. It's been a long and slow journey because the actors admit they have no experience of ever having run a food business. "We thought it would be easy. Just get a chef who can make the kulchas. But it has taken us time to understand how things work and get the right partners involved. Thankfully, Angad is a food consultant," says Kochhar.

Paneer naan bombs

The four met in Delhi and sampled matra-kulcha from more than 150 outlets to arrive at a favourite, common taste profile. "It's funny how boiled channa mixed with condiments can taste so different from one vendor to another. We wanted to bring in a certain authentic simplicity of flavour, the local taste that we all grew up with," adds Sahukar. The behind the scenes work took another year, including lab tests to standardise texture and consistency, then introducing natural-coloured variants and experimenting with the concept of pocket kulcha, stuffed with your favourite filling for those on the go.

Our parcel arrived in a newspaper bag, just like how it is served on the streets of Delhi, except, that the paper was reimagined - the Kulcha Digest that carried a mix of fun articles, information on the kulcha's history, satirical snippets, food themed crossword, and more. There's a QR code too, which when scanned, delivers a personalised message from Sahukar and Kochhar, thanking the customer for trying KulchaBros. "All of us worked on the digest and ensured that this, as well as the overall brand language, was fun, light, and quirky. We also plan to make four animated characters as the voices of the brand, mirroring a variety of personalities. We will be updating the digest content every couple of weeks, keeping it animated, relevant, and engaging," Kochhar promises.

Pocket kulcha

From the vegetarian menu, we tried the matra (Rs 139) and pindi chhole (Rs 159) and from the non-vegetarian list, we sampled the butter chicken (Rs 279) and ghee mutton roast (Rs 379). With decent portion sizes, good enough for two, we thought the price point was reasonable. "The idea was to have a premium product at affordable prices," says Sahukar. Soft and spongy like bread, the kulcha was a hit with the children at home, who were quick to grab the coloured variant, and the pindi chole hummus and kulcha chips (Rs 179). We especially loved the snacky cottage cheese masala kulcha bombs (Rs 159) and butter chicken kulcha bombs (Rs 199). The flavours of the gravies were non-pretentious. Sahukar tells us, "We didn't want to do fusion. We wanted to keep it classic. However, we did intend to make it fun, so we added beetroot juice to the dough to give it a red hue, and spinach puree to make it green and turmeric to make a yellow version; that way, kids can enjoy it. Of course, there's the OG version. We also have a gluten-free version."

Meat lovers should try the bhuna mutton kheema (Rs 329) and chicken tikka chaat (Rs 249) versions. The brand also offers drinks in old school glass bottles. The thunderbolt coffee (Rs 99) is Sahukar's favourite. They also stock a bubble gum falooda (Rs 119), kala khatta (Rs 79) and masala lemon soda (Rs 79), all Delhi favourites.

Admitting that they are still learning to understand and manoeuvre the cloud kitchen business, the four who are focussing on the Delhi and Mumbai markets, have plans to take the kulcha pan-India. Despite hectic personal work schedules, both Kochhar and Sahukar seem hands-on with the brand and make time between shoots for the KulchaBros' team calls.

Currently available through their website via WeFast, Zepto, Thrive and Dotco, the kulchas are also available with delivery partners Swiggy and Zomato. While the Mumbai rains haven't helped, the team here is trying to push out the orders in time. "We are taking small, baby steps and we're enjoying the process," signs off Kochhar.

Things we learnt from the Kulcha Digest

1. Kulcha is derived from an Arabic word and means pillow-like bread
2. Invented by the Nizams, it was the official symbol of the Asaf Jahi dynasty
3. It even appeared on the Hyderabad state flag, before it became a part of modern India
4. The kulcha was made by using self-raising flour with raising agents such as baking soda, it was easy to cook on a tawa or in a brick kiln, making it accessible to the masses and royalty alike

To Order: www.kulchabros.in