Lilave (Har bhare) Ki Kachori
I am a fan of seasonal produce. I do not enjoy Okra in winters and cannot have Gobi (cauliflower) in summers, that’s against my eating habits because that’s how we have been eating since ages. And trust me it has its own benefits, in fact the taste will also vary from season to season. You will never find those sweet peas in summer, no matter how nicely they are frozen and finding a tender bottle gourd in winter is a futile task.
.
.
.One such winter beauty is Lilave / Har bhara. They are green soft chickpeas and can be used to make parathas, curry, sweets and kachori also.
.
.
Yes and trust me they are incredible in any of their forms, if you don’t want to cook you can just munch on them. However, if you’d like to cook them in something very flavorsome then I recommend trying these kachoris. They are so flaky, peppery, tangy and full of flavors. If you are convinced , check the recipe below :)
Ingredients
For Kachori
All purpose flour - 2 cups
Oil - ¼ cup
Carom seeds - ½ tsp
Salt - as per taste
Water to knead the dough
For Filling
Oil - 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
Asafetida - ½ tsp
Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder - ½ tsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Amchur (Mango) Powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Salt - as per taste
Lilave crushed coarsely - 1 cup
Oil - for frying the kachoris
Method
Add all purpose flour in a big bowl and add carom seeds & salt.
Now add ¼ cup oil and mix it with hands/spatula for a few minutes.
Mix it well till you get a breadcrumb like texture, take a small quantity of this flour in your hand and press it gently, this should not break if it does mix it nicely till the time this texture is achieved.
Slowly add water to this and start kneading.
Knead it, only if required, add a little water / flour based on the dryness / sticky dough until we get a semi soft dough. Apply a little ghee on the dough and cover it with a muslin cloth and leave it aside for 30 minutes at least.
For filling, in a pan add oil. Once it is hot, add cumin, mustard, coriander & fennel seeds till they become a little golden in shade.
On a low flame add all spices (red chilli, turmeric, coriander, mango & garam masala) and mix it well.
Keep mixing , do ensure not to burn the spices.
Now add coarsely crushed lilave to this and add salt.
Mix it again and saute it on a low flame for 5-7 minutes until it becomes aromatic.
Let the mixture cool down completely.
Once it is completely cooled, make equal sized small balls of this mixture and keep it in a separate plate.
Now roll the dough into a log and cut it into equal portions based on the filling available.
Take a portion of the cut dough and flatten it with your fingers. Keep the edges thin while flattening, a rolling pin (belan) can also be used to flatten the dough.
Now place the filling ball in the middle of this dough disc and bring its edges together & join them at the center. Remove excess dough by pinching it off.
Roll this kachori gently with a rolling pin or press it with your palms to get a medium thickness kachori
Prepare all kachoris this way, keep them covered under a moist muslin cloth so that they do not dry.
Now take oil in a deep pan for frying. Once the oil is just hot enough, add kachoris one by one.
Ensure the oil is neither medium hot nor very hot, it should be hot enough so that when you put kachoris they come up slowly & steadily to the surface. You can try this with a small piece of dough before frying.
When kachoris start puffing up, gently nudge each kachori with a spoon so they puff up well.
Frying each kachori takes at least 7-10 minutes, so with patience keep frying them. Once its base becomes slightly golden turn it over with the spoon.
Once both sides become golden & crispy from outside, kachoris are ready to be taken out on a paper napkin.
Serve it with green chutney (pudina &/or coriander) or tamarind chutney or tomato ketchup.
Tip : If you want these kachoris to be super crispy & flaky, in a bowl mix 2 tbsp all purpose flour with 4 tbsp ghee and make a soft mixture. You can add 1 tbsp more ghee if it is dry. Once this mixture is soft, spread a little of this on the dough dish (at point 14 above) and roll it again into a disc and then place the filling.
