Mixed lentil Kachoris (Pastry covered lentils and peas savoury snack)

Hot and spicy Kachori  is my favourite. Kachoris can be made with lots of different fillings but I usually make them with mung dall. This time, I decided to make them with a variety of mung dalls and added some frozen peas to give the mixture a bit of moisture. Lots of recipes ask for the lentils to be boiled and the excess water strained out or some ask for the lentils to be soaked and ground in a food mixture. I like to see what lentils I am eating and I also feel that by straining out the water, you are throwing away some of the goodness in the lentils – hence my style of cooking is shown below. . You can make kachoris using peas on their own too but I added the frozen peas to my lentils so that I would have to use less water to cook my lentils.

Ingredients : for 25 to 30 kachoris

• 1 cup of dehusked split mung beans
• 1 cup of a mixture of whole mung beans and split but husked mung beans
• Half cup of frozen peas
• 1 onion
• Fresh green coriander
• A tablespoon of  ginger paste
• 1  litres cooking oil  for frying the kachori

For the pastry:

• 3 cups of plain flour
• salt to taste
• 3 tbls oil

Spices:

• • 2 tsps cumin seeds
  • 2 or 3 sticks of cinnamon
  • 3 or 4 cloves
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 tbls chili powder
  • 2 to 3 green chilies – depends on how hot you like your food!
  • 1 -2 tsp sugar (optional)
  • 2 tbls lemon juice
  • 1-2 tsps of ground cinnamon and cloves mixture (optional)

Method

1. Wash the various mung dalls and allow to soak whilst you organize the ingredients for tempering.

2. Heat 3 tablespoons of oil and add in the dry cumin, cloves and cinnamon.  Once the cumin goes dark, strain the lentils and add them to the oil.  Add the salt, sugar, chili powder and ginger  paste.  Stir and allow to cook gently for 5 to 6 minutes.  Add in the frozen peas and allow to cook for further 5 minutes.   Add half a cup of water to the mixture and transfer the mixture to cook in the microwave for 10 minutes.  Check it and stir  and cook until the lentils soften. Add some water if  lentils haven’t softened and cook again..

3. Once the mixture is cooked, add the lemon juice  and the ground cinnamon and cloves mixture to it.  Cook it for a couple of minutes and transfer it to a big mixing bowl to cool.  Add some finely chopped coriander and onions to the mixture.  Mix well and taste and make adjustments if necessary. Allow the mixture to cool.

For the pastry:

4.  Sieve the dough and add in 4 tablespoons of oil and 1 teaspoon of salt.  Using warm water, prepare the dough. The dough should not be too firm.  Cover and allow the dough to rest.

5.  Divide the kachori filling into 25 small balls

6.  Take a small amount of dough and roll it out in a small circle.

7.  Put the kachori filling in the middle of the circle.  Picking the edge of the circle, try and join all the edges together to form a ball. The ball should be sealed from all sides or the mixture will leak out when frying.

8 . Fry the Kachori in hot oil.  Once you add the kachori to the hot oil,  turn the heat down and allow them to cook slowly until nice and golden brown.

9. Enjoy the kachoris with hot chutney, ketchup, a cup of tea or a nice cold coke.

10.  These Kachoris can be half fried and frozen too.

What fillings do you like in your kachoris?