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Kachori is a spicy snack, originating from the Indian subcontinent, and common in places with Indian diaspora and other South Asian diaspora, such as Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Suriname. Alternative names for the snack include kachauri, kachodi katchuri and fried dumpling.

Kachoris were popular in old Delhi and Kota, Rajasthan, even before samosas gained popularity after the partition of India.

Kachori is supposed to have originated in Uttar Pradesh or Rajasthan. In these states it is usually a round flattened ball made of fine flour filled with a stuffing of baked mixture of yellow moong dal or Urad Dal (crushed and washed horse beans), besan (crushed and washed gram flour), black pepper, red chilli powder, salt and other spices.

Additionally in Rajasthani cuisine, the Pyaaj Kachori (onion kachori) is very famous. Another form of Kachori in Jodhpur is the Mawa Kachori and is a sweet dish dipped in sugar syrup.

In Gujarat, it is usually a round ball made of flour and dough filled with a stuffing of yellow moong dal, black pepper, red chilli powder, and ginger paste.

In Delhi it is often served as chaat. Delhi also has another kind of kachori, called Khasta kachori or Raj Kachori.

A variant includes sweet upwas (fast) kachori, made with potato, coconut, and sugar. Kachoris are often served with a chutney made from tamarind, mint, or coriander. Another type is fried and stuffed with pulses (urad and moong especially) and is generally found in the Kutch region of Gujarat. A kachori stuffed with peas is a delicacy in Bengal.

Some of the variants in North India include a version similar to the Rajasthani one, accompanied by a curry made of potatoes and varied spices or even chana (chole) similar to one served in chole bhature.

It can be served in breakfast or as an evening snacks.

Here I am sharing yellow moong dal (Yellow Petite Lentils) kachori which is one of my favourite.

Ingredients

Preparation

• Rinse yellow moong dal (yellow petite lentils) in a bowl and soak it with enough water for about 2 hours.

To make dough for Kachoris

• Take all purpose flour (maida) in a large bowl. Add salt and oil/ghee into it and mix it by rubbing the flour and oil/ghee using your finger tips. It should have breadcrumb like texture.

• Make a tight and stiff yet smooth dough by adding little water into it at a time. Cover the dough and keep it aside for about 15- 20 minutes, for later use.

To make stuffing for Kachoris

• Drain out extra water from the soaked yellow moong dal (yellow petite lentils) and add it into a grinder jar.

• Grind it to a roughly course mixture.

• Pre-heat a pan on a medium flame and add oil into it then turn the flame to low. Add cumin seeds, finely chopped green chillies, coriander powder, fennel seeds powder and sauté these spices for few minutes, say for a minute. Stir in between.

• Now add already soaked and grinded yellow moong dal (Yellow Petite Lentils), salt, garam masala powder, ginger powder, amchur powder (dried mango powder) and red chilli powder.

• Stir it continuously and cook the dal for 3-4 minutes on a low flame.

• Then switch off the flame and allow the mixture to cool down and keep it separate for later use.

To make Kachoris

• Divide the dough in 10 equal parts and roll into dough balls.

• Now take one dough ball and flatten it with the help of your fingers and make into 3" circle. Leaving the centre little thicker then the edges.

• Now mould the dough into a cup and place about 1 tsp of dal filling in the centre. Pull the edges of the dough to wrap the dal filling. Follow the same process to make all the 10 balls.

• Let the dal filled balls sit for 3-4 minutes before rolling it.

• Set the kachoris on a surface with the seams facing up. Using the base of your palm, slowly flatten them into about 3" circle. You may also use the rolling pin to roll the dal balls into circle/disc.

• Heat the oil in a frying pan on a medium heat. Frying pan should have at least 1"of oil.

• To check if the oil is ready to fry the kachoris, put a little piece of dough in the oil. Dough should sizzle, and come up very slow.

• Now turn the flame to medium low and fry the Kachoris. After they start to puff, slowly turn them over. Fry until golden-brown on both sides. Note that if the kachoris are fried on a high flame, they will get soft and will not be crispy.

• Once done take out the Kachori on kitchen tissue paper so that it will soak the excess oil.

• Repeat the same process with the remaining Kachori balls.

• Crunchy Moong Dal Kachori is ready to serve. Serve them hot with green coriander chutney or with sweet chutney.