Khasta kachori recipe

Introduction:
Khasta kachori is a famous appetizer and tea time snack made in Indian and even Pakistani homes. Originated in Rajhistan, this kachori comes crispy from the outside and hollow from the inside, when cooked. It is especially eaten with Aaloo bhujia and pickle. There are many variations of khasta kachori. Basically it is made with the filling of moong daal (split yellow lentil or mung bean or green gram) mixture but can also be filled with minced chicken mixture or potato mixture. Sweet khasta kachori is also loved by people. Khasta kachori is fondly eaten by every family member of every age no matter young or old, toddler or teenager but those having cholesterol problem must avoid eating it as it is cooked in heavy oil. A very easy recipe of making khasta kachori is as under;

Ingredients:

For making dough:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
  
• Half teaspoon salt or 1 teaspoon as per your taste
  
• 2 tablespoons ghee or oil
  
• Chilled water for kneading as cold water helps in making kachori crispy
  
• Much oil for deep frying

For making the mixture:

• Quarter cup moong daal (soak it in water for around three hours and boil it in the pressure cooker for 15 minutes so that it becomes soft and chewable)
  
• 1 teaspoon ginger and green chilli paste (optional)
  
• 1 teaspoon zeera (cumin seeds)
  
• 1 teaspoon lal mirch powder (red chilli powder)
  
• 1 teaspoon garam masala powder (mixed spices powder)
  
• A little bit salt nearly quarter teaspoon just to add taste
  
• 1 and half teaspoons amchoor or khatai powder (dry mango powder)
  
• Quarter teaspoons hing (asafetida) if like, otherwise you can leave it
  
• 2 tablespoons besan (Bengal gram flour)
  
• 2 tablespoons oil

Preparation Process:
Mixture:
Heat the oil and fry zeera and hing in it. When a nice fragrances starts coming and zeera changes its color then add boiled moong daal in it and mix it well. Add ginger and green chilli paste and all the remaining dry ingredients i.e. lal mirch powder, garam masala powder, salt, amchoor and besan and cook for 5 to 7 minutes and stir the spoon hard so that daal (lentil) gets little bit blended.

Dough:
A real challenge is to make dough. Sift flour and salt together. Add oil in it and knead finely with chilled water. Knead it a little soft but not much that you find it difficult to handle. Make small twelve balls equal in size, grease them individually with your oil-soaked fingers or cover them with a wet cloth and keep them for 15 minutes at rest.

Khasta Kachori preparation:
Roll the dough balls till medium thickness; it has not to be too much thick or too much thin. Do not roll them hard to make their size big. Kachori always come in small size. Fill in a portion of daal mixture in the centre but do not fill too much that it drops out from the corners. Start stretching the dough carefully from the corners and wrap it all over the mixture. Gently press it or roll it so that it becomes round with medium thickness.

Fill the frying pan quarterly with the oil and drop the kachori one by one in pre-heated oil. Fry on medium stove until it gets crispy and turns golden from both sides. Take them out on the newspaper so that it may absorb excess oil.

Yours delicious and mouth watering khasta kachori is ready. Eat them while they are fresh and enjoy!