Food I Grew up Eating – Kachori Aloo

Last Updated on December 1, 2021 by Babita

Its is my pleasure to introduce my very first guest under the “Food I Grew up Eating” segment. Her name is Arti Khatri and I have known her for about 5 years now. Having attended her numerous get-togethers, I can seriously vouch for her ability to cook and serve fabulous dishes. At my request she was kind enough to share the recipe of “Kachori Aloo”.

She inherited this recipe from her mom and though she is modest about it, I am pretty sure she is the best at it. She says “I remember going to my grandma’s house during the summer break and Kachori Aloo was one of the things we definitely used to have a couple of times a week. It  was an all time favorite among the kids as well as the adults.”

Regionally Kachori Aloo is found in north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) and in and around old Delhi. Served as a breakfast food, it is also made during religious festivals like Diwali, Holi and Dusshera. It is served in an unassuming bowl (dona) and plate (Patta) made from dried leaves (Indian version of recycled utensils). This recipe has two components to it; the Kachori is a deep fried flour tortilla and it is served with cooked Aloo, which is potatoes. Enjoy the recipe and a big thanks to Arti for her contribution.

 

 

Ingredients for Kachori

2 cups of all-purpose flour
3/4 cups of soaked urad daal
1/4 tsp of of dry coriander powder (dhania powder)
1/2 tsp of fennel powder (saunf)
2 tbsp of dry mango powder (amchur)
1/2 tsp red chili powder
one pinch of asafoetida (hing)
1″ of ginger
4 green chilies
Canola oil for frying and kneading.
salt as per taste.
Water for kneading

Method:

• Soak urad daal overnight. Drain all the water next day and combine it with coriander, mango fennel, red chili powder, ginger, and asafoetida.
• Grind them into a thick paste, adding very little water as we do not want to dilute this paste.
• In the meantime take flour in a big mixing bowl and add the urad daal paste to it.
• Knead it to make a hard dough, just like a poori dough. Add water only if required.
• When the dough has come together, add a lit bit of oil to finish it off.
• Heat oil in round bottom pan.
• While the oil is heating add little bit of salt to the dough and knead it again for the last time.
• Make small balls of dough and roll them into  pooris and deep fry them until it turns golden brown on both sides. Hint: If the pooris are rolled perfectly, they will puff up beautifully in the oil.

Ingredients for Aloo

5 big sized potatoes (aloo)
1 tbsp coriander powder (dhania)
1 1/2 tbsp dry mango powder (amchur)
1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
1/4 tsp turmeric (haldi)
4 green chilies
2 tbsp of canola oil
a cup of finely chopped coriander leaves
5-6 chopped stalks of coriander
salt as per taste
2 – 3 cups of water

Method

• Boil the potatoes, peel and keep aside.
• Once they have cooled down, break them into small pieces. Do not chop them.
• Add the canola oil in a flat bottom pan and heat it.
• Once the oil has heated add cumin seeds. As they start to splutter add turmeric and coriander powder.
• Saute this mixture for less than a minute and once the coriander powder has changed color, add the potatoes.
• Mix all the spices and potatoes thoroughly and add water.
• Bring this whole mixture to a boil and then add the slit chilies, and chopped coriander stalks.
• Reduce heat, cover it and simmer it for about one hour.  Make sure you mix it every couple of minutes to avoid any burning.
• About half an hour into cooking add mango powder, mix it properly and let it continue to simmer under low heat.
• Take it off the heat once most of the water has been absorbed by the potatoes.
• Finally garnish it with coriander leaves.
• It is ready to be served with the Kachoris…