Raj Kachori

Raj Kachori can pretty much be called the Queen-bee of the Chaat family, and has quite an apt, royal name to signify that as well :) Though, it would be in close competition with my all time favorites gol-guppe, which rule the chaat world any day!

I had never seen Raj Kachori, let alone try it.  But the name itself is quite intriguing and so I started conducting my recipe research to find out how it is authentically made.   I found quite a few unique recipes and after deliberate R&D, trial and error, I came up with this version.   I did make 2 versions of the Kachori, and both came out quite good.  I am presenting here one of the two versions, so as not to confuse you much.  

Don't be overwhelmed by the length and complexity of the recipe. The effort will be SO worth it, I can bet you on that!  I will suggest an easy tip to make your Raj Kachori making, and eating experience a pleasurable one.  Except for the sev, I made every single ingredient of this recipe from scratch, the chutneys, the papdis, bhalle, and of course the Kachori. But you can very well buy the chutneys, papdi etc. from a store to save yourself some time, and you won't be compromising much on the quality of the recipe..

Tip:  Break the process into 2 days.  Day 1: Make the Kachori, date-tamarind and green chutney, as well as the papdi the day before. Soak the 2 daals (for bhalle), and black chana (black garbanzos) overnight.

Day 2: So on the 2nd day, you only have to boil the potatoes and black chana, grind the daals and make bhalle, assemble the Raj Kachori and savour it.  Easy Peasy?  Told ya so!

Recipe:

Ingredients for Kachori:

Makes about 8-10 kachoris

All-purpose flour - 2 cups

Oil - 1 1/2 tablespoon

Ghee (clarified butter) - 1 1/2 tablespoon

Salt - to taste

Oil - for deep frying

Ingredients For filling:

Gram flour (besan) - 2/3 cup

Aamchur powder (dry mango powder) - 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoon

Salt - to taste

Red chili flakes (like the kind used on Pizza) - 1/2 to 1 teaspoon

Oil - 1 tablespoon

Mix everything, keep this filling aside, to be filled in while rolling the kachoris.

Ingredients for Bhalle:

Urad daal (skinned and split black lentils) - 1/2 cup

Moong daal (skinned and split moong beans) - 1/8 cup

Green chilli - 1

Ginger - 1" piece

Salt - to taste

Oil - for frying

(A full fledge recipe for Dahi Bhalle can be found here, in case you would like to make that as well on the side since it's the same recipe: http://cafemint.blogspot.com/2009/12/dahi-bhalle.html)

Other ingredients:

Yogurt - 3 cups, whisked until smooth

Potatoes - 2, boiled, skinned, diced

Black chana (black garbanzos) - 1 cup, soaked overnight, boiled with salt to taste

Sev - 1/2 cup

Date-Tamarind chutney - 1 1/2 cup

Green chutney - 1/2 cup

Coriander - 1/4 cup, finely chopped

Chaat masala - 1 tablespoon

Red chili powder - 1 tablespoon

To Make Kachori:

• Mix the flour, salt and oil well.  Slowly add water, few drops at a time.  Knead it into soft dough.
• Rest the dough for at least 10 minutes.
• Knead the dough one more time, form smal balls.
• Roll each ball say upto 2 inches, fill in 1 teaspoon of the filling prepared above, wrap the dough forming creases by hand and bringing it all together, forming like a purse, press it and roll it again, seam side up, say up to 3 inches in diameter.  Should be roughly 2 to 3 times bigger than a pani puri/golguppa.
• Heat oil on medium heat.  Fry the kachoris on medium heat.  The Kachoris would puff up, if given enough tender love and care while frying :).  Fry until golden brown or until you think it has been cooked well.
• The kachoris would be puffed and crisp.  

To Make Bhalle/Wada:

• Soak both the daals overnight
• Grind the soaked daals coarsely,  along with green chillies, ginger and salt.  Add little water if needed.    Add 1/2 tablespoon of warm oil to the batter. 
• The key to making soft bhalle/wadas is to whisk the batter in one direction for at least 5-10 minutes.  This would create a fluff in the texture.  
• Heat oil for frying.  Drop various batches half a tablespoon quantity of batter in oil. For Raj Kachori, we can make 1/4 size the regular bhalle Fry until golden brown.  Given that the mixture is made of daal, its important for it to fry enough so that the daal is cooked.
• Once the bhalle/wadas are fried, put these in a container full of water for about half an hour.  Take the wadas out and squeeze excess water.

The Grant Finale - Assembly:

Assemble it right before eating so that it doesn't become soggy.   

Take one Kachori, dig a hole in it by tapping gently on the kachori.  Add a couple of bhalle/wadas. Top it with whisked yogurt.  Sprinkle some chaat masala.  Add papdi.  Pour chutneys if you like.  Add potatoes and black chana on top of it. Pour 2-3 tablespoon of Yogurt, 1-2 tablespoon of date-tamarind chutney, 1/2 tablespoon of green chutney.  Sprinkle sev, chopped cilantro, chaat masala and red chili powder.  Garnish with a whole papdi on top.

Enjoy it right away!!!