Moong Dal Kachori

Hubby insists that the dal kachori at his home town in Rajasthan is the best. I have heard this innumerable times ... and have tried making it once in a while. But nothing comes even close to the original version. Had I not tasted them myself, I would have ticked him off and ignored his ravings.
But it is true .... no matter what masala I use ... no matter how ever I change the proportions ... they do not turn out like the ones back home.

I had talked to shop owners ... got only vague answers. Talked for length with the guys at LMB in Jaipur ... got the answer ... "we use 12 kinds of garam masalas". What kind? ... heheheh ... they are family secrets. I had almost given up. :-(

So, this time when I attempted to make them again .... I was nervous. Another imminent disappointment ... no, they taste very good .... but we have set the bar a little too high ... we wanted the ones that tasted like back home.

And I decided that this time I'll make them absolutely on my own. I did not use any garam masala ..... or anything extravagant. Just stuck to a couple of things for that dominating flavour .... clove powder and ground black pepper. And they were a success! Hubby said they were very close to the original tasting ones.

Simplicity rules! :-)


I am so glad I have my blog now to share this success and wonderful kachori. Let us just forget the amount of oil that goes in to it .... it was festival time, remember :-) ..... and just dig in.

This can eaten by itself, with chutney ... I had my fav Chashni chutney ... or like we had with spicy Aloo curry (Rajasthani style).

Need :
For the dough : Maida, salt, cooking oil,water.

For the filling : Yellow moong dal (washed and soaked overnight), hing, haldi powder, red chilli powder, salt, clove / laung powder, black pepper powder.

How to : Add lots of cooking oil .... when I say lots, it is lots .... that maida should be crumbly with the oil in it, salt and use a little water at a time and knead a medium soft dough.

Heat a little oil and add a good amount if hing (remember ... it has to dominate the flavour). Now add the soaked dal and stir. Then add haldi powder, red chilli powder, laung powder and black pepper powder and salt.

After the hing, the flavour of black pepper should dominate ... the laung should give a light and passing flavour.

Stir fry for some time ( do not add any water) and remove to cool. This can be had as a dry dish too with parathas or puris.

Make small balls from the maida dough and stuff them with the filling. Lightly roll them out a little (this is needed for the maida to cook well too).

Heat enough oil in a kadhai and deep fry the rolled out kachoris. Remember .... the oil should not be too hot when you start frying.

Fry the kachoris till they are golden brown. Drain on a paper towel.

Enjoy !! :-)