Onion Kachori - Rajasthani style

Onion kachori is a spicy round flattened ball filled with onions and other Indian spices which originated in Jodhpur and soon became a famous snack item in Rajasthan. It goes very well with hot milk tea, coffee or sweet lassie which is another delicacy of that place. I have tasted this amazing snack for the first time when prepared by a close friend who is a great foodie with great culinary expertise. I want to say a big thanks for introducing this tasty savoury to me. The recipe is quite simple and so I am sharing it here for all of you to enjoy.

Ingredients:

Onion                        1 (chopped)
Cumin  seed              1/2tsp
Coriander seed          1/2tsp
Kasuri methi             1/2tsp
Chilli  powder           1 tsp
Amchour powder      1 tsp
Garam  masala          1/2 tsp
Green chilli               1 slitted
Besan                        1 tsp
Potatoes                    2 (boiled  and smashed)
Sugar                         as per taste
Salt
Plain flour                2 cups
Ajwain                      pinch
Oil

Stuffing:

1. In a grinder add Coriander seed, Cumin seed, Fennel sedans, kasuri methi and grind it to make a coarse spice mixture.
2. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a broad nonstick pan not too hot. Add the freshly made spice mixture asafetida, chilli powder , garam masala and roast the spices for a minutes.
3. Next add in the besan, aamchur powder and black salt and cook in a medium flame for about 2 to 3 minutes and keep stirring.
4. Once the mixer is roasted and gives a nice aroma,  add one chopped onion and two slitted green chilis. Now saute until the onions are soft.
5. In my version of pyaaj kachori i have added smashed potatoes to enhance the taste. Add boiled and mashed potato to the mixture and stirr well to mix together for few minutes
6. Add half tsp of sugar and salt to balance the taste of whole stuffing. Cook for a couple of hours switch off flame and let the filling cool for sometime.

Dough:

1. To make the kachori dough take flat vessel and pour 2 cups of plain flour. Now add pinch of ajwain, salt and 2 tbsp oil. Rub oil with the flour nicely.
2. Add little amount of water at a time and knead a medium soft dough. Dough need to be kneaded for 5 to 8 minutes to get a good texture. Let it cover and stay for half an hour.

Kachori:

1. Once the filling is cooled take small equal portions of it and make ball. similarly divide the dough portions little larger than the filling portions.
2. Take a portion of dough and flatten it with fingers and pressing the edges well. once it is about 3 inches in diameter put the filling portion inside and close the edges and make a large ball. Similarly make balls with other portions and let it covered with damp cloth and rest for 10 minutes.
3. Take each ball and press it with palm to flatten with little concave at center which help the kachori to puff up nicely while frying.
4. In order to make the kachori really hard and crispy, we need to fry it twice , first in high flame for about 10 seconds to ensure the outer layer is cooked and wont absorb much oil. After flash frying all the kachori in high flame reduce the flame and fry the kachori again in medium for about 5 to 6 minutes to make it puffed up well and super crispy.

Serve hot with sweet tamarind chutney enjoy this amazing evening snacks