Moong Dal Khasta Kachori - Deep fried stuffed bread

Am so fond of street fond, guess everyone one is. On our Road trips to where ever, I always prefer to eat local food specially from the street vendors to get the actual taste of the culture and spices of that region. And I specially hate to eat out in the Fast food Chains like McDonalds', KFC etc. Well, the prime reason is they don't have many options in Vegetarian food, but french fries or some oily patty stuffed wrap. And those Bean Burgers are just Urghh... Don't know when was the last time I ate in McDonalds', may be in France when we were looking for some mid night snack at around 12 at night. This is another annoying thing about living in European subcontinent, you hardly get anything good to eat lat night. Don't these people binge snacks after dinner ??? Yeah yeah, may be that's why this clan is one of the fittest around the world. Whatever !

Coming back to the Street food, I have never been fond of Samosa and Chaats, rather home made stuffed Kachoris have always topped the list for me. I had never tried it on my own until this time, and I am seriously thinking of including this in my monthly Menu plan. Last time when I made Raj Kachori last month, since then I was looking for some other deep fried snack to try on. Although loaded with lots and lots of oil, this is a perfect craving buster for those rainy and breezy days. Not here in London though, where its always raining, but you know what I mean... 

Although I was very much looking forward to try this recipe on for Sunday Brunch, still the Horror of gulping down so much of oil completely engulfed me.  It took me a while to digest that I have to actually use APF in the recipe and that even the stuffing also would be roasted in oil, in addition to the whole deep frying process. I had to take some mid-way out anyhow. At first I thought of using half APF and half WWF, but my foresight of upset stomach and love handles scared me again. So I simply used Whole wheat flour and skipped Maida almost completely. Also, I dry roasted the stuffing with just a hint of oil. Honestly, I didn't find any difference in the stuffing at all but yes the outer shell of the Kachori was a bit flat which was not how it was supposed to be. Taste wise, not to brag, this was one of the best Kachoris I have ever had. 

Due to the absence of APF and lesser quantity of oil being used ( both in the dough and stuffing ) , the Kachoris have not puffed up enough. But the crispiness and the crunch was intact and  just perfect.  Just 2 Kachoris were enough for me, but I had one more out of sheer indulgence and greed, of course ! Its a must try at least once, and how much harm can some oily food do ? And those Tuesday Muffins , and that Birthday cake, ohh and the Tarts I had last weekend. But that doesn't count, ehh... moving on... 

Check out the Original recipe from my fav Blog Mayeeka here, I have changed the recipe a bit adopting both Anjana's method and my Mum's.  

What you need ?

For the Dough :
2 cups Whole wheat Flour 
1/2 cup All Purpose flour - optional, I didnt use it at all 
1/2 tsp Baking powder 
1/2 tsp Lemon Juice
A generous pinch of Salt 
2 tbsp Oil 

For the Stuffing: 
1 cup Moong Daal ( Yellow Lentils ) 
1 tsp oil 
2-3 green chilies chopped 
A small piece of ginger, grated 
2 tsp Panch Phoran ( to know what Panch Phoran is, click here ) 
Fresh cilantro leaves, chopped fine
1/2 tsp Heeng 
1 tsp red chili powder - or as per your taste 
Salt to taste 
1 tsp Garam Masala , Amchoor powder ( dry mango powder ) each 

How to Make:

Wash lentils properly and soak in enough water for 2-3 hours, drain and blend coarsely in a mixer. Don't churn for long, just 3-4 quick pulses would be enough to break it down. We don't need to powder it,  but just the rough mixture

Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan, and  throw in Panch Phoran and Asafoetida and fry for a minute till it starts to crackle. Add green chilies and ginger and fry for a minute
Now, add the coarsely ground lentil, add salt and other spices and mix well. Fry for a minute on low flame, add 1/4 cup water and cook covered on low flame for 5-6 minutes stirring in between. You may have to add more water, depending on the quality of Daal and your pan. Only add enough water to keep Daal soft and cook properly, we dont have to make this stuffing mushy at all. It should be coarse and a bit dry.
Once its cooked, add chopped coriander leaves and keep aside to let it come at room temperature. 

Meanwhile, knead the dough mixing all the above ingredients and keep aside for at least 30 minutes

Once everything comes at room temperature, divide the dough into equal sized round balls.
Roll the dough ball slightly and stuff with equal portion of daal mixture, close it properly by gathering all the sides together
Apply some oil to the rolling pin and roll the stuffed balls gently to make a circular disc 
Heat oil in a wok, and deep fry these discs one by one on low flame until they turn golden brown from both sides, gently tugging them with a Ladle
Drain extra oil on a paper towel  and serve hot with Raita and Chutney.

My Notes: 
I don't use dried flour for dusting while rolling for Puris or Kachori since it spreads in the oil while frying and I dont really like it. But you may use it if rolling without it gets difficult, or you dont like applying extra oil to rolling pin
Increase the quantity of All purpose flour or use only APF, its totally up to you and results will be different each time. 
Increase the quantity of oil in the dough for more puffed up and layered Kachoris, which will then be true to their name as Khasta Kachori which means puffed and layered.

Sent it to Jagruti's Potluck Party for this month

Look what I have brought to this Potluck Party so far 
Raj Kachori 
bottle Guard with Soya Nuggets
Thai Mushroom Soup 
Watermelon Carrot Juice 

Linked it to the event:
Whats my cuppa started by UK Rasoi and hosetd by Avika this month 
Chaat and Chutneys by Cook's Joy 
Spotlight - Raksha bandhan 
Nivedham's Healthy diet started by Priya