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My All-Time Favourite Snack - Kachori

by: Trushti

A Kachori is a stuffed deep fried Indian bread. The stuffing varies from region to region. The most favorites of all are the aloo kachori, daal kachori and pyaz (onion) kachori. There are two types of Kachoris, one is the khasta kachori which can be kept for days and is eaten as snacks and the other ones are eaten the same time. The stuffing can vary from person to person depending on their individual choices.

Aloo Kachori:
Ingredients:

1/2 kg Potatoes

100 grams Arrowroot

1 Coconut (grated)

2-3 Green Chilies

1 tsp Cardamom Seeds

1-2 tbsp Lemon Juice

1-2 tsp Sugar

Salt to taste

Method:

To make covering, first boil and mash the potatoes. Mix it with 50 grams arrowroot, salt and knead it into stiff dough.

To make filling, mix the grated coconut with crushed green chilies, sugar, lemon, cardamom and salt.

To make kachori, take a small portion of the dough and pat between palms to make a small puri.

Now stuff this puri with coconut mixture and form into a ball. Repeat the process to make rest of the kachoris.

Douse the balls in the remaining arrowroot and deep fry in hot oil until golden brown.

Aloo Kachori is ready to eat. Serve hot with chutney.

Image credit: http://lemonzine.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/p1060575.jpg

Moong Dal Kachori:
Ingredients for Stuffing

Split decorticated Mung beans (Dhuli Moong Dal): 1 Cup

Water: 5 cups to moisten Dal

Cayenne pepper ground: 1 teaspoon or to taste

Salt: ¼ teaspoon maximum. The salt makes the stuffing watery. Add minimum amount of salt or no salt at all.

Coriander powder: ½ teaspoon

Clove powder: ¼ teaspoon

Cumin seeds: ½ teaspoon, slightly crushed

Coriander seeds: ½ teaspoon, slightly crushed

Fennel seeds: ½ teaspoon, slightly crushed

Cilantro: 2 Tablespoons, washed stem discarded, leafs chopped

Asafetida (Hing) powder: ¼ teaspoon

Method to prepare Stuffing:

Wash and rinse Moong Dal.

Put water and Dal in a pot. Bring it to a boil. As soon as it comes to boil, shut off heat. Cover and let it rest 15 to 20 minutes. Drain. Rinse in cold water. Drain well. You have moistened Dal. This process eliminates need to pre-soak Dal overnight.

Put moistened Dal in a blender, or a processor with minimum possible water. You want a coarse grind, not a fine paste. It should be grainy.

Add remaining ingredients. Knead it like a dough.

Heat a non-stick pan. Cook on medium heat to get rid of moisture. The stuffing should be damp and not wet. It should form like a very stiff dough.

Divide stuffing in 14 parts.

Method for Frying:

Preheat deep fryer to 275º F.

Note:
You will not use rolling pin for the following steps. Lightly oil your hands and form Kachori.

Press one of the Khol ball to about 3 to 4" diameter. Place a part of the stuffing on top.

Gather the dough around folding the stuffing in. Make sure most of the air escapes.
- Press down again making it flatter.
- Fry about 3 to 4 Kachori at a time, till they are golden brown.

Image credit: http://kitchen.saanamsmind.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/kachori.jpg

Urad Dal Kachori
Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups (500 gm.) chapatti flour

1 cup skinless urad/urd/urid (black gram dal), washed and soaked for 2 hours

3/4 inch fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

3-4 green chillies (to taste)

1 1/2 tsp. fennel or saunf powder

1 1/2 tsp. coriander powder

1/4 tsp. hing or asafoetida powder

1 tsp. chilli powder (to taste)

1 1/2 tsp. salt

Oil for deep-frying

If you like your food spicy, increase quantities of these items to suit your taste

Instructions :

Making the dal filling or 'Pitthi’:

Soak the dal for 2 hours, drain in a colander.

Place dal in a food processor, along with ginger and green chillies.

Grind to a COARSE paste. You may need to add a little water, but don’t make it runny. If it is, then fry it in a wok or karahi until dry like dough.

Take it out in a large mixing bowl, add all spices and mix. Keep aside.

Making Kachauries:

Place flour in a bowl and add water, a little at a time, and make a soft dough. Knead it well. Keep it covered with a moist cloth/handkerchief.

Divide dough into small portions to make golf size balls.

Flatten each ball between your oiled palms.

Place a teaspoon of the dal mix in the centre of the flattened ball, pull edges together and make it into a ball again. Make all balls and keep them covered with a moist cloth.

Heat oil in a wok or kadhai. To check if it has reached correct temperature, drop a small piece of dough in the oil, it should sizzle and float to the surface quickly but the oil should not be smoking. If it is smoking, it is too hot and will burn the kachauries. Turn heat down a little.

Grease one ball at a time with oil and roll it out to 5-6 inch diameter. You can do this in a ‘poori’ or a ‘tortilla’ press. Traditionally, they are made by flapping a stuffed and greased ball too and fro, between oiled palms, until you get the required size and thickness (see pictures). This requires practice though.
- Gently lift the kachauri and slide it into the hot oil from the side of the karahi. If dropped from top, it can splash hot oil on your hand.
- Once the kachauri floats to the surface, press it gently all over using a ‘skimmer’ or spatula, encouraging it to fluff up into a ball.
- Fry on both sides until golden colour and a little crisp.

Image credit: http://mealtimesuccess.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/kachori-chat.jpg