Moong Dal Kachori

Ingredients
For Dough
2 cups all-purpose flour (maida), 250 grams
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup Ghee or oil
½ cup water or add as required

For Lentil Stuffing
½ cup moong dal
½ tablespoon Ghee
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
½ teaspoon red chilli powder
½ teaspoon cumin powder
½ teaspoon dry ginger powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon crushed fennel seeds
salt as required

Other Ingredients
oil for deep frying

Instructions
Making Kachori Dough
Take 2 cups all purpose flour (maida) and salt in a bowl or pan. mix very well.
Add ¼ cup ghee.
With your fingertips mix the ghee with the flour for a few minutes till you get a breadcrumb like texture in the mixture.
Add water in parts and knead the dough till soft.
Cover the dough with a moist muslin or kitchen towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Making Moong Dal Stuffing
Rinse ½ cup moong dal in a bowl. Soak moong dal with enough water for 2 hours.
Later drain all the water very well and add the soaked moong lentils in a grinder jar.
Grind to a roughly coarse mixture.
Then heat a pan. Add ½ tablespoon ghee.
Once the ghee melts, keep the flame to the lowest or switch off the flame.
Add all the spice powders one by one.
Keep the flame to its lowest and mix very well. do make sure that the spices do not burn.
Then add the coarsely ground moong dal. Also add salt and 1 pinch of asafoetida.
On a low flame mix very well.
Saute with non-stop stirring for 3 to 4 minutes on a low flame. Check the taste and if required you can add more spice powders like red chili powder and mango powder or salt. Let the mixture become warm or cool down.
Now make small balls from this moong dal mixture. You can also spread some oil on your palms while making the balls. Keep aside.

Assembling, Stuffing And Shaping
After 30 minutes, lightly knead the dough.
Roll the dough into a log. Now cut the dough in equal portions. This will depend on the number of moong dal mixture balls that were made.
take a portion of the cut dough and flatten it with your fingers. Keep the edges thin while flattening. You can also use a rolling pin (belan) to flatten.
Now place the moong dal stuffing ball on the dough. Flatten the moong dal stuffing ball.
Bring the edges of the dough together and join them at the center. Excess dough can be pinched off and removed.
Flatten the top and then gently roll the kachori with a rolling pin to get a medium thickness kachori. Stuff and prepare all kachori this way. Keep them covered under a moist muslin or cotton cloth, so that they do not dry up.

Frying Kachori
Heat oil for frying and keep the flame to a low. When the oil is just hot enough, you can add the kachoris.
When the kachori start puffing up, then gently nudge each kachori with a spoon, so that they puff up well.
When the base becomes light golden, then gently turn them over. The frying takes about 7 to 9 minutes. So one has to be patient.
Continue to fry on a low to low-medium flame till they become golden. While frying you can turn them often to get an even color. Regulate the temperature from low to low-medium as required.
Fry till they become golden and nicely crisp from outside.
Place khasta kachori on kitchen paper towels so that excess oil is absorbed. Fry all kachori this way.