Kastha Kachori

Today is the final day of blogging Marathon#21 Week 2. Today’s post is kastha kachori which is moong dhal stuffed flaky pastry served at wedding in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. The flakiness of the outer pastry shell is got by using either shortening/ vanaspathi or ghee. Oil will not make the pastry shell flaky. I saw the recipe at Indiacurry.com. The tips for the preparation was very useful. I halved the given recipe and got 7 delicious kachoris. I served it with sweet chutney and we had a nice snack with our evening coffee. 

Ingredients:
For The Pastry Shell:
Maida/ All Purpose Flour-1 cup
Vanaspathi/ Shortening-2 tbs
Salt-1/4tsp
Ice Cold Water-3-3 1/2 tbs

For The Filling:
Moong Dhal-1/2cup
Water-2 1/2cups
Red Chilly Powder-1/2tsp
Coriander Powder-1/4tsp
Salt-1/4tsp
Cumin Seeds-1/4tsp
Fennel Seeds-1/4tsp
Clove-1
Coriander Seeds-1/4tsp
Coriander Leaves-2tbs
Hing-a pinch

Oil-For Deep Frying

Procedure:
1. Wash and add water to moong dhal. Bring it to boil.
2. Switch off flame and let the moong dhal soak in hot water for 30minutes.
3. Wash it with cold water and drain the water.
4. In a mixer jar, take moong dhal along with all the ingredients for stuffing.
5. Run the mixer with out adding water and grind moong dhal to a coarse paste.
6. In a non stick pan, saute the mixture for 2 minutes until crumbly. It has to retain some moisture and you should be able to shape it into balls.
7. Divide the mixture into 7 equal portions and shape each portion into a ball.
8. Keep it covered.
9. In a bowl add flour, salt and vanaspathi.
10. Mix it well.
11. Add ice cold water a table spoon at a time and prepare a stiff flaky dough.
12. Divide it into 7 equal portions.
13. Take one dough ball and press it with your fingers to make a disc.
14. Place the moong dhal ball inside and bring the dough together to cover up the stuffing.
15. Pinch to seal the dough. Flatten it into a thick disc.
16. Heat oil and deep fry the kachoris on low flame.
17. Fry until golden brown.
18. Serve along with sweet chutney.