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 !! :-)

Rawa Idli

Idli is an all time favourite .... but one has to preplan .... soaking the dal, etc. When in a hurry, rawa idli comes to the rescue.

Very fast to make, it is the perfect menu for a lazy weekend's brunch. And is my favourite as it fits my way of cooking ... simple , fresh and fast. :-)

While the idlis get steamed, the sambar gets cooked too. In the meantime, if you have fresh coconut at home, just grate some and make this awesome chutney. Your plate will be ready in no time.

I had a packet of store bought cream of rice ... so used it. The idlis turned out real soft and fluffy.

Need :

For the idli : Rawa (for idli) or cream of rice, curd, salt to taste, a little cooking oil, baking powder (optional). 

For the sambar : Toor dal (washed well) , whole red chillies, sliced onions, curry leaves, mustard seeds, haldi powder, a little cooking oil, sambar masala, salt to taste, soaked tamarind or tamarind pulp.
If you want to, you can add cubed vegetables of your choice too

We had it plain .... since hubby made it this time.

For the chutney : Freshly grated coconut, a little toor dal, a little urad dal, green chillies, fresh curry leaves, a little cooking oil, salt and sugar to taste.

How to : 

The idlis : Mix everything with a little water. If the curd is not sour, add a little lemon juice. Set in idli moulds and steam. 

The sambar : Heat a little oil in the pressure cooker. Add the mustard seeds and when they start to splutter, add the red chillies and curry leaves. Then add the onions and fry for some time.
Add the dal and the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Add water and cook. 

The chutney : Heat a little oil and lightly roast the dals. Now grind all the ingredients into a paste.

And your brunch is ready ! :-) 

Dahi Vada

This is another of my recent creations for the festival season. It was on hubby's wish list for a long time. I don't make Dahi vadas as frequently any more because of all the deep frying ... not to mention the cold and sour dahi/curd getting to your throat.

Since I do not like bland tasting vadas drowned in sweet dahi and served in the name of dahi vadas, I make them a little differently..... with a tempering of curry leaves and mustard seeds.
I also use a little chopped ginger in the dahi ... and this combination gives a very different and nice taste to the whole thing.
I also make a diluted dahi/curd and water mixture ( plain water makes the vadas bland and tasteless) and soak the vadas in it before actually mixing them with thicker dahi. This way the vadas end up very soft.
Need : Urad dal (soaked and ground into a coarse paste), cooking oil to deep fry, salt to taste, dahi/curd, curry leaves, whole red chillies, mustard seeds, finely chopped fresh ginger.
How to: Take a bowl and mix dahi and water to make very thin liquid.

Heat a little oil and add the mustard seeds. When they start to splutter, add the whole red chillies and curry leaves. Add this to the mixture.

Add the chopped ginger and salt to it.

Now add salt to the dal paste and mix well. Heat enough oil and deep fry the vadas.


After removing from oil, dunk the vadas in to the dahi and water mixture and let them soak.

After the all the vadas are done and have been soaked well, add more dahi to them, add salt to taste and your dish of dahi vada is done.
Serve with a sprinkle of roasted jeera powder and red chilli powder.