It has been nearly a week since I last posted here. My daughter was on her vacation and I was feeling so lazy to do any cooking, clicking or posting. For this month's Indian Cooking Challenge, which was supposed to be posted on 15th, I am posting it a week later. But it is better late than never. Srivalli chose the famous Rajasthani Raj Kachori for this month on Vaishali's suggestion. Before marriage, I used to make Raj Kachori frequently. Even my brother's friends would come home with family and we used to relish it a lot. But after marriage, it was a shock that PK was not a great fan of chaats ( I am talking about 9 years earlier, but now he is a great fan of the chaats I prepare at home). He hated pani puris and the only chaat he used to eat was the masala puri from a nearby vendor but it never tasted like masala puri. I was so sad that I even stopped eating chaat. But when I started blogging, the chaat fan in me came to life and I started preparing varieties at home. I was not worried that PK will not eat but atleast I could eat. The scene changed drastically and PK became a great fan of my home made chaats. And when Valli announce this month's ICC, I remembered the good old days. But what I used to prepare was a little different from Vaishali's recipe. As Vaishali is the queen of chaats in our group, I just followed her recipe without altering. Will be posting my version later. The chaat turned out delicious and we devoured it happily. Sruti even tasted it but with out any chutneys. I made it according to her wish. She chose the fillings and topping. Kids today know how to get mama to the job...
You can make the pooris and papdis before two or three days. Potatoes, green gram and chickpeas can be boiled on the serving day. Sev and boondi can be store bought. I made all the filling and the pooris on the same day. I started with the pooris and papdis. Made the dough and while they were resting, I made the garlic chutney. Green chutney and sweet chutney were ready in the freezer. Then I prepred the dahi vadaspopped them in the fridge and then started making the puris and papdis. By the time I finished those, I made the boondis. Then took some rest, had my lunch and then boiled the chick peas, green gram and potatoes. By the time it was time to bring Sruti home. Then came the coffee time. After finishing coffee, I assembled all the ingredients required for the assembling part. Then cam the photo shoot, and then came the relishing time. I think I cooked up a storm yesterday and the result was worth the effort.
Here is the list of items that go into a Raj Kachori. This is not like the other kachoris where an outer dough is filled with some spicy filling and deep fried. This is like a huge gol goppa filled with so many fillings and sauces and curd and finally topped with sev and coriander. You need to work out a plan on how to eat this. Just let the sauces and curd soak until the outer poori gets soft so that you can use a spoon to relish it or go according to your plan.....
Ingredients:
For The Huge Puris:
Makes 14 Puris
Flour-1 cup
Semolina/ Sooji-1/4 cup
Salt-to taste
Baking Soda-a pinch
For The Garlic Chutney:
Garlic Pods-20
Red Chilly-20
Oil-2 tsp
Salt-to taste
For The Dahi Vada:
Makes 12 vadas
Urad Dhal-1/3 cup
Salt-to taste
Rice Flour-2 tsp
Oil- To Deep Fry
Curd-1 cup
Fillings:
Dahi Vada
Papdi (click on link for recipe)
Boiled Potatoes
Boiled Green Gram
Boiled Brown Chickpeas
Boondi (click on link for recipe)
Spices:
Red Chilly Powder
Chaat Masala
Black Salt
Chutneys:
Sweet or Salted Curd
Topping:
Sev (click on link for recipe)
Coriander Leaves
Procedure:
Garlic Chutney:
1. In a grinder grind all the ingredients with little water to a smooth paste.
2. Refrigerate until use.
The Puri:
1. Mix together flour, sooji, salt and baking soda. Add enough water to make a soft dough. The dough can be sticky as the sooji will absorb the excess water. But don't make it stiff.
2. Cover and set it aside for 30 minutes.
3. If you feel that the dough is crumbly, touch water and knead the dough until soft and smooth.
4. Divide into 14 equal portions.
5. Roll each portion into a thin disc of 3" diameter.
6. Heat oil and deep fry the puris one by one until crisp and golden on both sides.
7. You need to toggle between medium and low flame until the puris turn crisp.
8. When cool serve in airtight jar.
Dahi Vadas:
1. Soak urad dhal for 30 minutes.
2. Grind it into a smooth paste by adding very little water.
3. In a bowl mix together the thick paste, rice flour and salt and beat with a spoon until fluffy.
4. Heat oil and drop spoon fulls into the hot oil.
5. Cook until golden.
6. Soak the fried vadas in water for 30 minutes.
7. Whisk together curd, salt and a little water.
8. Squeeze the water out of vadas and soak them in the curd.
9. Refrigerate until further use.
Assembling Raj Kachori:
At first I thought of giving all the photos one by one but it would become a very lengthy post. I saw this type of collage at Valli's space and thought it would make the post a little shorter. So here is my try at a collage...
1. Break the top of puri.
2. Add some dahi vada pieces.
3. add broken papdi.
4. Add boiled, peeled and cubed potatoes.
5. Soak boondi in water for 10 minutes, squeeze out water and add.
6. Add the green gram, chick peas and spice powders.
7. Add curd, garlic chutney.
8. Add green and sweet chutney.
9. Top with sev and coriander leaves.
Serve and Enjoy!!!
Labels: CHAT, ICC, RAJASTHANI
