Fried and grilled
Kalari kulcha
Jammu's street snack of kalari cheese fried in its own fat until crisp, tucked into a soft kulcha bread.
Kalari is a dense, ripened fresh cheese from Jammu and Kashmir, made especially in the Udhampur area. Slices are fried in a dry pan in their own fat until the outside crisps and browns and the inside turns soft and stretchy. Kalari kulcha puts the hot cheese, with onion, tomato and chutney, inside a soft kulcha bread.
What goes in
- Kalari640%, Fried in its own fat.
- Kulcha533%, Soft leavened bread.
- Onion and tomato213%, Sliced.
- Green chutney17%, Sharpness.
- Salt and chilli17%, Seasoning.
Rough parts by weight. The ring shows each ingredient's share of the dish.
Made step by step
Each drawing shows the operation for that step. Quantities and timings differ from house to house; this is one traditional way, in outline.
Step 1: Grate Slice the kalari discs if they are thick. Step 2: Fry Heat a dry iron pan and fry the cheese until crisp and brown on both sides. Step 3: Layer Season with salt and chilli powder. Step 4: Bake Warm the kulcha on the same pan. Step 5: Fill Stuff the kulcha with cheese, onion, tomato and chutney, and serve hot. Finished Kalari kulcha, by share.
The mozzarella of Jammu
Kalari is sometimes called the mozzarella of Kashmir, though it is made differently. It is usually made from full-fat cow's milk, curdled and pressed into small flat discs. In Kashmiri it is known as maish krej. Because it releases fat when heated, it can be fried without oil, like halloumi or paneer cooked on a griddle.
Street food
Stalls in Udhampur and Jammu fry kalari to order on flat iron pans, season it with salt and chilli and serve it in a kulcha, a soft leavened bread. It is also eaten plain with tea. The snack has become better known outside the region in recent years, and it is a point of local pride in Jammu.
Where it is used
The cheeses in it
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Sources and further reading
Original text and drawings by the EveryCheese desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. The shares are a rough, illustrative ratio, not a recipe: every family and kitchen makes it differently. If we have something wrong, tell us.