KHASTHA KACHORI

Many a times i sweep through recipes from a cookbook of my mother's, I always stop by this recipe of Khasta Kachori to see how it is made. The snack looks appealing but the ingredient listed in the recipe, that is, moong dal, stops my temptation to try it. I am not a great fan of lentils and especially when it comes to snack J am least fan of veggie snacks.

So one day I was urged to try something for snacking, and I convinced myself that this would taste a lot tastier than it actually is, if served with tamarind chutney as listed in the recipe.

And when I went through Tamarind chutney recipe it sounded like, chatpata (spicy hot and sour) type. And I decided to make another chutney to go along with it, which is pudina chutney or mint dip. The whole thing turned out to be really roller coaster ride for my taste buds with the hot kachori served with cold chatpata chutneys and oh God! why I stayed away so long from trying it. It did not seem like I was eating lentils as it was all mushed up, though the recipe said the grains has to stay separate.
And as for monsoons in India, this snack is perfect to have for tea times

Over to the recipe,
Ingredients:
For filling:

• Mung dal- 1 1/2 cups, soaked for two hours and drained
• Salt- 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder- 1 tsp
• water- 1/4 cup
• Oil- 3 tbsp
• Asafoetida- 1/8 tsp
• Kashmiri chilli powder- 1 tbsp
• Coriander powder- 1 tbsp
• Fennel seeds- 1 tsp
• Sugar- 1 tsp
• Garam masala powder- 1 tsp
• Desiccated coconut- 2 tbsp
• Dry mango powder- 1 1/2 tbsp

For dough:

• Flour- 3 cups
• Milk- 1 cup
• Oil- 6 tbsp
• salt- 1 tsp
• For frying:
• Oil- for deep frying

Tamarind Cutney:

• Tamarind Puree- 1/2 cup
• Coriander leaves- chopped- 1/2 cup
• Kasmiri Chilli powder- 1 tsp
• Salt- 1 tsp
• Cumin powder- 1 tsp
• Ginger paste- 1 tsp
• Green chilli-  1
• Honey/ sugar - 1 tbsp

Mint Chutney:

• Mint leaves- chopped- 1/4 cup
• Coriander leaves- 1/4 cup chopped
• Green chilly- 1 
• Yogurt- 2 tbsp
• Honey/ sugar- 1 tbsp
• salt- 1 tsp

Method:

• Combine mung dal, salt, turmeric powder and water.\Bring to boil. cook, covered on low heat for 15 minutes, or till the dal is cooked but the grains are still separate. Dry liquid if any.
• Heat 3 tbsp oil. Add asafoetida. Add the rest of ingredients for filling and the cooked dal. Cook on low heat, stirring continously with a fork. Keep aside to cool.
• Combine flour milk, oil and salt to make the dough. Knead it for 5 minutes, or till the dough is smooth. Divide into 16 portions and form smooth balls. roll each ball into 10 cm circles. Place a spoonful of dal mixture in the middle drawing up the sides to enfold the filling. Seal the edges. Gently roll between the palmsto form smooth balls. Press lightly to flatten the Kachoris.
• Heat oil. Reduce heat. Fry Kachoris, a few at a time, on low heat till light brown and crisp. Drain. Serve with tamarind chutney and mint chutney.

Tamarind chutney:

• Combine all the ingredients in an electric mixer and blend. Keep chilled

Mint Chutney:

• Combine all the ingredients in an electric mixer and blend. Keep chilled