Peas Kachori ( Matar ke kachori)

Have you ever gone to the small road side shops to eat hot kachoris during a cold winter morning? Is not that a great experience? Hot kachoris directly from the kadhayi to your plate and a sip in the special chai!! I just love it. Kachori have always been a hot favorite for breakfast in our family. The day I make kachori, it seems we are having a picnic!! Here comes my special peas kachori recipe for you.

Ingredients :

1. Peas- 1 cup
2. All purpose flour- 1 and 1/2 cup
3. Salt to taste
4. Nigella seeds- 1/2 tsp
5. Oil- 2 large tbs
6. Water
7. Coriander seeds- 1 tsp
8. Dry mango powder- 1/2 tsp
9. Coriander powder- 1 tsp
10. Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
11. Red chilly powder- 1/4 tsp
12. Roasted cumin powder- 1/2 tsp
13. Cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp
14. Oil to deep fry

Procedure:

Boil the peas in a little salted water until one whistle. Let them cool and mash. Now in a bowl add flour, salt, nigella and 2 tbs oil. Mix everything well so that oil reaches every corner. The texture of the flour will change. Now add water slowly (very little at a time) and keep mixing the flour. For a nice dough, the water quantity should be perfect. Try to gather the dough and roll it till it turns elastic ( in Bengali this is called "thasa", it is an important part as this process helps the dough to achieve elasticity). Cover the dough with a wet cloth and keep aside for 15 minutes. Do not refrigerate the dough, as that will harm the texture of it.

Heat a pan and add cumin seeds and the roughly ground coriander seeds. When they start crackling, add 2 large tbs oil and all the masala powders. Let the masalas get fried for a minute. Add the mashed peas. Now for the mashed peas, I will suggest to mash them with hand. This will prevent the peas to be mashed up excessively by grinder. A little coarse peas stuffing tastes good!!

After adding the peas, mix well and let the mixture get fried for few minutes. When the mixture starts to stick to the bottom of the pan, add little water. This will help the flavors to mix. Add salt and fry the mixture for another 5 minutes. The mixture should turn brownish. Turn off the gas and let it cool down. If you stuff hot mixture in the kachori, they will tend to trap air and burst while deep frying.

When the mixture is ready, roll the dough for few seconds so that it regains its texture. Take medium size balls from the dough and roll it into 3 inch roti. Stuff a decent amount of the peas masal in it and cover the stuffing from all the end. Press between your palms to give the kachori a nice shape. Also make sure the ends are closed well or else while deep frying there will be a disaster!!

Heat oil in a large kadhayi. When the oil is ready, add the kachoris three to four at a time and fry them on medium flame. Turn the side of the kachori. 

When the kachori turns light brown, take them out and drain the excess oil. Serve the hot peas kachori with some cold curd and tamarind sauth.

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