Kachori (Khasta Kachori with dal)

These Kachori are flaky & crispy with a delicious and aromatic spiced moong dal filling. Whether you are craving Indian street food or want to entertain your family & friends with a delicious snack, these fit the bill. This easy recipe will help you make the perfect Khasta Kachori that anyone will love.

This post covers every detail you need – making the flaky crust that surely puffs, preparing the aromatic stuffing, shaping the kachoris and frying them perfectly for a crunchy, flaky and light pastry. For a healthier option you can also air fry or bake them.

About Kachori

Kachori is a disc shaped flaky fried pastry consisting of a spicy or sweet filling. The pastry is made with maida (a kind of all-purpose flour) and the filling can be made with various ingredients, like spiced lentils, potatoes, onions or sweetened milk solids/mawa (for a sweet version). The word Khasta means flaky & this recipe makes Khasta Kachori that remains flaky and crisp for days.

Like Dhokla and Samosa, Kachori is eaten across India and is a popular street food. It is believed they originated in the Marwari community of Rajasthan and were made as a dry snack, to be eaten during long road trips. A generous amount of coriander and fennel seeds are used as a cooling & digestive aid.

However there are many versions with varying spices and stuffings, made across North Indian states and Gujarat. Moong dal kachori is one of the most popular and is usually served with sweet Tamarind chutney, Green chutney and fried chilies.

Ingredients & Substitutes

• Flour: I use organic unbleached all-purpose flour for 100% crispy, flaky and light kachoris. A mix of whole wheat flour (atta) and all-purpose flour is the next best option. I’ve had great success with 100% atta too but the kachoris are not that great the next day. If you are keen to use atta, read my expert tips section below.
• Ghee: A generous amount of ghee is incorporated into the flour before forming the dough. This makes the covering/pastry crispy and flaky. Ghee not only imparts a great flavor to the kachori, but also prevents the pastry from picking up the flavor of oil used to deep fry. For a plant based version, you may use oil. The pastry in this case will be equally crisp but less flaky.
• Dal/ lentils: I use yellow split moong dal but you can use split chilka mung dal or even urad dal.
• Spices: Coriander and fennel seeds are the key spices used in higher quantities. Other spices like cumin seeds, black pepper and garam masala are used in very small amount for a flavor boost. I’ve not used fresh spices like ginger or green chilies and opted to used dried versions. Chaat masala or amchur is used for a tang.
• Besan/gram flour: My recipe uses a small amount of besan for flavor and helps bind the stuffing, which makes it easier to shape the kachoris. Using besan also helps you bypass the step of pulsing the soaked lentils. Sattu is the best substitute for besan. But if you can’t eat besan or sattu, simply increase the quantity of lentils to 1/3 cup. Pulse the soaked lentils in a grinder to get a coarse paste.

Photo Guide

How to make Khasta Kachori (Stepwise photos)

This recipe makes 8 medium kachoris. If you want you can make 6 large. To make a large batch, you may 2x or 3x the recipe ingredients.

Preparation

1. Add ¼ cup moong dal (50 grams) to a medium bowl and rinse them well thrice. Soak in 1.5 cups water for 3 to 4 hours.

2. While the lentils are soaking, make the spice blend. To a medium spice grinder jar, add the following spices:

• ¾ to 1 tablespoon fennel seeds/ saunf (use lower qty if you don’t prefer)
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• ¼ teaspoon whole pepper corn (may omit for low heat)
• ¾ teaspoon jeera/ cumin seeds
• 3 dried red chilies (deseed for low heat, or use 1 tsp red chili flakes) Or you may add 1 green chili chopped to the pan directly, at the time of frying the spices.

3. Pluse to a slightly coarse powder.

Make the stuffing

4. When your dal is soaked, drain them to a strainer and make the stuffing. To a pan, add 1½ tablespoons oil and add the coarse ground spices. Saute them on a medium heat for 2 mins, until aromatic.

5. Add 3 tablespoons besan (25 grams).

6. Saute until very aromatic, for about 6 to 7 mins. The masala and besan begins to release oil & begins to form small lumps. Do not burn. At this stage turn down the heat to low and add

• ⅛ teaspoon asafoetida/ hing
• ¼ teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder (adjust to taste)
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
• ½ teaspoon sea salt

7. Immediately add the soaked and drained dal. Saute for 7 to 8 mins until the dal is softened slightly & the moisture is dried out. Stir in

• ½ teaspoon dry ginger powder/ saunt
• ¾ teaspoon chaat masala (or ½ teaspoon amchur/dried mango powder + ⅛ tsp black salt, adjust to taste)
• ¼ teaspoon garam masala
• ¾ teaspoon sugar or jaggery
• 1 teaspoon kasuri methi / dried fenugreek leaves

8. Saute for 2 mins more and turn off. Taste test to adjust salt or other spices. Avoid adding more garam masala because you want the flavor of fennel and coriander to shine through.

9. Cool down slightly and divide to 9 portions. (One packed tablespoon per each portion.) Shape them loosely to balls. Avoid rolling them hard because you want the balls to open up while shaping/rolling the kachoris. (You will have one extra ball which you can use to taste test or share among the kids.) Keep them covered.

Make the dough

10. To a bowl, add

• 1¼ cups all-purpose flour (150 grams) or ½ cup all-purpose flour + ¾ wheat flour
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ½ teaspoon carom seeds /ajwain – crush them slightly in a mortar pestle
• 2½ tablespoons melted ghee (38 ml, 27g)

11. Using your fingers incorporate the ghee well into the flour for 2 to 3 mins, until it looks like bread crumbs. Take a handful of flour and press down with your fingers tightly to check if the dough has enough moyan/ fats.

12. It should hold shape like seen in the picture below.

13. Pour ¼ cup (60 ml) water & begin to form a non-sticky and slightly tight dough. With this amount of water, my dough is still slightly crumbly, so I add a tbsp more. If the dough is still dry, you may dip your fingers in water as you mix. Do not knead. You will have a stiff and tight dough (but not crumbly & dry) as seen in the first picture below. Cover and rest for 30 mins. When you are ready to shape the kachori, knead the dough only for 2 to 3 mins, until smooth (picture 2).

14. Reserve a pinch of dough for later and divide the rest to 8 portions. Roll to smooth balls in between your palms. You will have them smooth on one side and slightly rough on the other side as seen in the picture. Keep them covered till the end.

Stuffing

15. Take a dough ball to your fingers. Starting from the center (on the rough side), spread the dough with your fingers to make a small cup or a disc of about 3 inches.

16. Place the kachori stuffing in the center. Bring the sides up by pushing the stuffing inside.

17. Bring all the edges on top and smear water.

18. Join and press down to seal.

19. Make sure the edges are slightly moist so they join well.

19. Roll to a round ball in between your palms.

20. If the dough/joint looks too dry, dip your finger in water and press down the joint well. (Don’t make it too wet.) This is very important. Finish stuffing all the kachori balls and keep them aside covered with a cloth or lid. We don’t want them to dry out.

Shape Kachori

21. Pour 2 cups oil to a medium sized deep fry pan/ kadai and begin to heat on a low flame. You want the oil to be slightly hot, not sizzling hot. It takes 8 to 10 mins for my oil to heat up on a extremely low heat. Meanwhile I shape the kachoris. If you are a slow cook, you may shape a batch of kachoris first and then heat the oil.

22. Shaping with fingers: Flatten a dough ball gently with your fingers and spread the filling across evenly and shape it to a 3 inch small puri/ kachori. (Avoid doing that on the edges)

With a rolling pin: Place a dough ball on a rolling board, grease it and roll with light hands to a 3 inch kachori. Avoid rolling a lot on the edges.

23. Your kachori should be properly sealed and evenly shaped. Place them on a greased tray and cover with a lid or parchment paper. Shape 4 to 5 at one time before you begin to fry.

Frying Kachori

24. Test the oil by dropping a small flat piece of dough. It should sink and stay there at the bottom. You should see only a few tiny bubbles & it should not be sizzling hot. (check video) Add the kachoris one by one. I did only 5 here. If you are making a larger batch, use more oil, a larger kadai and fry more kachoris at one time.

25. They will all sink and settle at the bottom for the first 4 to 5 mins. After that they will begin to rise to the surface. They will completely float & begin to puff by 10 mins.

26. After 10 to 12 mins they will become firm, increase the flame slightly to medium heat. Turn them to the other side with a spider.

27. Keep stirring every few minutes until they are evenly golden & crisp.

28. It takes me another 8 mins, but this may vary slightly depending on how many kachoris you are frying, kind of stove, cookware and intensity of heat. Total time for the kachoris to fry can vary between 17 to 20 mins.

29. Remove to a cooling rack or a steel colander. To fry the next batch of kachoris, let the temperature come down. You may turn off the stove and shape the rest. Turn on again and fry them in slightly hot oil.

30. Lastly to fry chilies, pat dry 4 to 8 rinsed green chilies and poke deep holes with knife or deseed them. Add them to a spider and dip in hot oil & fry in short intervals of 15 to 20 seconds, until blistered.

Enjoy kachori hot with fried chilies, tamarind and green chutney.

Expert Tips

• Handshaped kachoris puff better than rolled ones.
• To make these with wheat flour, sieve the flour 2 to 3 times and discard the excess bran if any. Excess bran makes them softer when they are stored. You will need more liquid to make the dough but it should still be a stiff dough. Wheat flour kachori are best eaten the same day but they are good again when reheated in a air fryer.
• To air fry, preheat the air fryer/oven to 350 F or 180 C for 5 mins. Place the kachoris in the basket or on a air fryer parchment paper. Air fry for 13 to 14 mins, depending on the size and thickness. Do not make them too thin or too thick. I make the same size as shown in the pictures above.
• The air fried version is best when you air fry the kachoris at the highest heat – 400f but I don’t prefer to do that. Also avoid resting them else they won’t puff at all.
• Dried red chilies add a nice spicy flavor to the filling. But you can also use green chilies if you want. Simply add them to the oil after frying the crushed spices.
• Dry ground ginger can be substituted with fresh grated ginger. Add it along with the soaked dal.

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