Green Peas Kachori

 

Come winter you find fresh green peas in the markets in India.

Green peas kachori is a favourite Bengali snack, if you visit West Bengal during the winter, you will find almost every store which sells sweets and Bengali savories, selling green peas kachori along with a potato dish. You will find Bengalis as well as non-Bengalis relishing this delicious snack. 

Usually the green peas kachori is made by kneading a soft but firm dough with maida (white flour). Small balls are made from this dough. A stuffing is prepared with green peas and this is stuffed into the small balls of the maida dough, these are then rolled out into small puris and deep fried. The method which my mum follows is far easier and quicker and very, very tasty. This was also how my grandmother made it. In this method you do not stuff the green peas but mix it with the maida.

Ingredients:

• 500 grams green peas.

• Half teaspoon ginger paste.

• One teaspoon cumin seeds.
• Green chillies according to taste.
• Salt to taste.
• 2 tablespoons pure ghee (clarified butter) or any refined oil (approximate).
• Maida (white flour) --- you have to use your judgment.

Method:

• Shell the green peas.

• Grind the green peas, cumin seeds, and green chillies to a smooth paste (I prefer the mild green chillies, I mentioned them in my previous post).

• Mix the ginger paste with the green peas paste.

• Add salt to taste.
• Now take enough maida so as to be able to knead a firm dough without adding water.
• Add 2 tablespoons of pure ghee or oil to the maida, also add a pinch of salt to the maida. You can increase or decrease the quantity of ghee. It is this pure ghee or oil which makes the kachoris crisp.
• Add the green peas paste to the maida and knead into a soft but firm dough.

• This kneading can be a bit tricky for if you take too much maida you may find it difficult to knead into a firm dough and if you add water it spoils the kachori. Since my mother is an experienced cook she knows just how much maida she needs but I prefer not to take a risk, this is what I did when I once kneaded the dough; I took a small quantity of maida, added the ghee and salt. To this I added the green peas paste and as I began kneading, I went on adding small quantities of maida till I had a nice firm dough. However the kachoris you see here have been made by mum.
• Once you have kneaded the dough make small balls and roll out into small puris.

• Deep fry these puris.

You can have these kachoris just with some chutney or pickle or with any side dish of your choice. I like to have it with potatoes with black pepper.

Potatoes with black pepper

Sending this to Sweet and Savory ---- Meatless Mondays.