Matar Kachoris | Fried Pastry with Spiced Green Peas Filling

Crispy fried pastry dough pockets filled with spiced fresh green peas, sprinkled with some chat masala is what you need to escape from this cold dreary weather.

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Kachoris are not something I ate growing up. The first time I ate Kachoris was in my early 20s and I felt cheated on not knowing about this lip smacking snack for all my life. The first time I saw someone make it was when a dear friend of mine called me over to her house just because a friend was visiting her and making kachoris. I know, my friends are awesome that way.

She used margarine to mix into the dough and made some delicious kachoris. But I never use margarine otherwise and I couldn’t really bring myself to buy just to make some kachoris. I could have used butter, but then I wasn’t sure and I didn’t put much thought into it.

Recently, I was sitting with a friend of mine at my kitchen island and we were having some chai and chatting away. Eventually the topic of discussion became food and I was telling her how I want to go and live somewhere in Northern India for a couple of years just to enjoy all the wintery goodness. Having lived all around Southern India all my life, the seasons we had were just hot, hotter and hottest with a sprinkling of monsoons in between. I never really experienced cold winters till I came here to the US. So, the whole concept of winter eating in India is new to me.

Anyway, this friend of mine that I was having chai with, told me about how they would eat hot matar kachoris in winter with the fresh green peas they would get. Just hearing her describe it made me want to make and eat some then and there.

A week later I went to Trader Joes and found these beautiful fresh English peas and all I could think of was to buy some to make matar kachoris. So I did! I bought them and I made matar kachoris. And the day I decided to make them turned out to be gorgeous. Not a gorgeous day. But a gorgeous day to eat fried stuff – a.k.a, cold and rainy day! I made them, made some hot chai and we all ate so many that we had to skip dinner that day!

This was my first time making Matar Kachori, usually it is a Paneer Tikki or Hush Puppies or Pakodas or something else like that.

That is some step by step pictures of how I made the kachoris. After that last step here, just fold it, flatten it and deep fry.

Matar Kachoris – The Recipe

Ingredients:

For the dough

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sooji / semolina
• 4 tbsp ghee
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 to 1 cup ice cold water

For the matar filling

• 2 cups fresh English Peas / Green Peas
• 2 Thai Green Chillies / 1 Serrano
• 1 inch piece cube ginger
• 2 tbsp grapeseed oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp asafetida
• 1/4 tsp black salt / kala namak
• 1/4 tsp amchur / dry mango powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• salt, to taste

2-3 cups grapeseed / sunflower oil for deep frying

Method:

Mix the flour, semolina, ghee and salt together. Add water a little by little to form a dough that is moist and holds together but not sticky. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and let it rest for 30 mins.

Wash and drain the green peas. Grind to a coarse paste with the green chillies and ginger.

Heat the 2 tbsp oil in a sauté pan and add the ground mixture and all of the spice powders and salt. Chop the cilantro finely and mix it in to the green peas and masala mix. Sauté for a couple of minutes till the raw scent of the spices goes away. Remove from heat and keep aside.

Now heat the oil for deep frying in a pan. Make small lime sized balls out of the dough. Flatten a little on the palm of your hands. Take about 2-3 tbsp of the filling and place it in the center of the dough. Bring all the edges of the dough together on top and flatten it again between your palms.

Check if the oil is hot by dropping a tiny piece of dough into the oil. If it sizzles immediately and rises up in a few minutes, then the oil is hot enough. Place the dough with the filling gently into the oil. Flip over after 2-3 minutes. Do not keep the oil on high heat as the outside of the kachoris will brown soon and the insides would not have cooked well. Let it cook on the other side for a couple of minutes as well and then drain on to paper towels.

Repeat with the rest of the dough and the filling. You may have a little left over filling, which you can use as a filling for a paratha later on.

Matar Kachoris | Fried Pastry with Spiced Green Peas Filling

Course: Appetizer / Snack

Cuisine: Indian

Prep Time: 35 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

Servings: 10 -12 kachoris

Author: Manju | Cooking Curries

Crispy fried pastry dough pockets filled with spiced fresh green peas, sprinkled with some chat masala is what you need to escape from this cold dreary weather.

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Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sooji / semolina
• 4 tbsp ghee
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 to 1 cup ice cold water
• For the matar filling
• 2 cups fresh English Peas / Green Peas
• 2 Thai Green Chillies / 1 Serrano
• 1 inch piece cube ginger
• 2 tbsp grapeseed oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp asafetida
• 1/4 tsp black salt / kala namak
• 1/4 tsp amchur / dry mango powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• salt , to taste
• 2-3 cups grapeseed / sunflower oil for deep frying

Instructions

1. Mix the flour, semolina, ghee and salt together. Add water a little by little to form a dough that is moist and holds together but not sticky. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and let it rest for 30 mins.
2. Wash and drain the green peas. Grind to a coarse paste with the green chillies and ginger.
3. Heat the 2 tbsp oil in a sauté pan and add the ground mixture and all of the spice powders and salt. Chop the cilantro finely and mix it in to the green peas and masala mix. Sauté for a couple of minutes till the raw scent of the spices goes away. Remove from heat and keep aside.
4. Now heat the oil for deep frying in a pan. Make small lime sized balls out of the dough. Flatten a little on the palm of your hands. Take about 2-3 tbsp of the filling and place it in the center of the dough. Bring all the edges of the dough together on top and flatten it again between your palms.
5. Check if the oil is hot by dropping a tiny piece of dough into the oil. If it sizzles immediately and rises up in a few minutes, then the oil is hot enough. Place the dough with the filling gently into the oil. Flip over after 2-3 minutes. Do not keep the oil on high heat as the outside of the kachoris will brown soon and the insides would not have cooked well. Let it cook on the other side for a couple of minutes as well and then drain on to paper towels.
6. Repeat with the rest of the dough and the filling. You may have a little left over filling, which you can use as a filling for a paratha later on.