Kachori (Stuffed Puff pastry)

Kachori or Kachodi is a popular Indian snack, often served with different chutneys and curd. A crisp and flaky pastry filled with moong daal (golden gram) and spice mixture. There is a little bit of hard work involved here, i won't lie but the end result is worth it completely, i assure. As to this particular recipe, there is this small yet beautiful village in Satara, Maharashtra called Phaltan, that is where my mother was born and brought up. Also where I spent almost all my summer vacations while i was in school, the one thing I never miss eating while I am in Phaltan is this amazing 'kachori'. This man, the second or third generation of the family making these amazing puff pastries, works alone to keep the recipe a secret! Every time I have been there I have had to wait at least for an hour because of the constant rush of people and the fact that he works alone and prepares every order to the perfection, which is irritating sometimes when you are drooling because of the fragrances but the moment you put the kachori into your mouth, you are in another world completely! I have had kachori's from a lot of places but this one is out of the world, so I had to get the recipe but even after trying all my contacts and every way to persuade him to let out the recipe, the man did not budge:( so i decided to do a dissection of the kachori and find out what goes into its making, and to the content of my heart i have almost nailed it!! i have eaten atleast 7 of these and can't move anymore, So here it is for you guys to enjoy too:)

Ingredients for the dough:

Maida (plain flour) (1 and 1/2 cup)

Roasted rawa (semolina) (1/4 cup)

Ghee (2 tsp)

salt (1/4 tsp)

water (as needed)

Oil (for frying)

Ingredients for the filling:

Moong daal (golden gram) (1 cup) (soaked in water for 2 hours)

Green chili (3)

Coriander (1 tbsp)

Ginger (1 inch piece)

Red chili powder (1 tsp)

Saunf (fennel seeds) (1/2 tsp)

Zeera (cumin) (1 tsp)

Garam Masala (1/2 tsp)

Coriander powder (1 tsp)

Hing (asafetida) (a pinch)

Salt (to taste)

Oil (2 tbsp)

Ingredients for imli chutney:

Imli (tamrind) (3 tbsp)

Gud (jaggery) (3 tbsp)

water (1 cup)

Ingredients for green ragda:

White vatana (yellow peas) (2  cups) (soaked in water overnight)

Turmeric powder (1 tsp)

Green chili (4)

Coriander (1/2 cup)

Chaat masala (2 tspn)

Pani puri masala (2 tspn)

water 

Salt

 Moong daal before and after cooking. That's how you want it to look once its cooked.

Roll out small portions of dough into a small circle, the size shown in the picture.Place one spoon full of the moong daal filling in the center. Bring together all the sides and seal tightly.

Roll the filled portion again into a circle, but ensure that the filling does not spill out. Fry these in hot oil on medium flame until golden brown from both sides, and you are good to go.

Method for the dough:

1. Mix the flour, semolina and salt together in a deep bowl.
2. Heat the ghee for 1 min and pour it over the flour. Rub the flour with both your hands to form a bread crumb like texture.
3. Add the water and knead into a soft but firm dough.
4. Cover with a wet muslin cloth and keep aside for 15 mins.

Method for the filling:

1. Drain the moong daal and grind it coarsely in a mixture.
2. Remove from the mixture jar and keep aside. In the same jar grind the rest of the ingredients for the filling except for the asafedita, salt and oil. 
3. Heat oil in a deep bottomed non-stick pan and add the chilli mixture to it and add the asafedita and mix well.
4. Saute for 2 mins and add the moong daal to it.
5. Mix well and add 1/2 cup of water to it. Continue to cook on medium flame while stirring in  between.
6. Cook till the daal is soft.
7. Switch off the flame and let the filling cool.

Method for green ragda:

1. Pressure cook the white vatana along with turmeric powder and 1/4 tsp of salt, till the vatana is completely cooked.
2. Grind the chili and coriander.
3. Mix the chili and coriander in the ragda along with the rest of the ingredients and keep aside.

Method for imli chutney:

1. Soak the tamrind and Jaggery in the water for an hour.
2. Squeeze the tamrind and remove from water, the jaggery must have dissolved in the water by now.
3. Mix well and keep aside. 

Method for making the kachori:

1. Divide the dough into 12-15 equal portions and keep aside.
2. Roll out each portion of the dough into a small circle.Place one spoon full of the moong daal filling in the center.
3. Bring together all the sides, seal it tightly.
4. Roll the filled portion again into a circle, but ensure that the filling does not spill out.
5. Make the rest of the kachori’s in the same way.
6. Heat oil in a deep bottomed vessel. And fry 2 kachori's at one time till nicely golden brown on both sides.
7. Serve immediately, make a hole in the kachori fill it with both the chutneys and serve. Enjoy:)