Summer is finally over. Hope you had a great vacation and enjoyed some cool summer favorites like our Mango Smoothie and Cranberry-Yogurt Drink. Now that Monsoon is on full swing, it’s the perfect time to enjoy some spicy, crunchy snacks with some hot tea while enjoying the rainy showers. Although “Pakora” is the usual choice for the occasion yet there is always room for new options. And that is what today’s recipe, “Corn Kachori” is all about. It gives you another variety to relish and drench your taste buds with this mouth-watering snack while you watch tiny rain drops dancing on your terrace. You bet, this can’t get any better…so don’t wait and make the best of this beautiful season!!
Ingredients:
- 1 Cup- Corn Kernel (Bhutte ke daane)
- 1 Cup- All-purpose flour (Maida)
- 2 tablespoons- Corn flour (Makke ka atta)
- 2 to 3 – Finely chopped Green chilli (Barik kati hui hari Mirch)
- 2 teaspoons- Ginger paste (Adrak ka paste)
- 1 tablespoon- Fennel seeds (Saunf)
- ½ tablespoon- Coriander seeds (Khada Dhaniya)
- 3 to 4- Whole Cloves (Laung)
- 1 teaspoon- Red Chilli powder (Lal Mirch powder)
- 1 teaspoon- Turmeric powder (Haldi)
- 1 teaspoon- Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
- 2 teaspoons- Cumin powder (Jeera powder)
- 1 pinch- Asafoetida (Hing)
- ¼ cup- Finely chopped coriander (Barik Kata hua Hara dhaniya)
- 2 tablespoons- Clarified butter (Ghee)
- Salt as per taste
- Oil for frying
Method:
The entire cooking process for Corn-Kachori, is divided into following three steps:
- Dough Preparation:
- Take all-purpose flour and salt (½ teaspoon or as per your taste) in a bowl and mix well.
- Now add ghee in flour and mix with your fingertips until you get crumbling texture.
- Add water in parts and knead a soft dough (see Figure-2 for reference).
- Let the dough rest while covered for at least 10 to 15 minutes.
- Filling Preparation:
Figure-3 : Filling preparation for stuffing
- Take corn kernel in a grinding jar and add little water if needed. Coarsely grind it and keep it aside.
- Heat a pan and dry roast Coriander seeds and whole cloves. Once roasted, crush them either with rolling pin or mortar and pestle (Khal-Batta).
- Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a pan. Add asafoetida, ginger paste, chopped green chillies, turmeric powder, fennel seeds, corn flour and crushed Coriander seeds and cloves. Roast everything for a minute.
- Add ground corn in masala mix. Give it a good mix and cook it for 2 minutes.
- Now add coriander powder, cumin powder and red chilli powder. Mix everything and cook for another minute. Sprinkle chopped Coriander, mix and keep it aside to let it cool down (see Figure-3 for reference).
- Stuffing and Frying:
Figure-4 : Stuffing and Frying the Corn-Kachoris
- Smooth the dough and divide it into equally small sized balls.
- Take a ball and flatten with your fingertips or roll it into a shape of “Poori” with the help of rolling pin. Keep the edges thin.
- Now place the small amount (approximately a tablespoon or according to the size of your Poori) of stuffing mixture on the flattened dough. Bring the edges of the dough together and join it (Remove or pinch off the excess dough). Press the stuffed Kachori gently with the help of palms.
- Make all the Kachoris as the process mentioned in the previous step. Keep Kachoris covered to avoid getting cracks from being dried.
- Heat oil in a deep pan/Kadhaai for frying. Keep the heat on low. When the oil is hot enough for frying (to check whether the oil is perfectly hot, first drop a pinch of dough).
- Carefully slide the Kachoris one by one into the frying pan. Once the Kachoris start puffing and the colour changes to slightly golden from the one side then gently flip them over.
- Fry the Kachoris until they become golden and crispy from both sides. Turn them often and regulate temperature from low to low-medium as required to get even colour and crispy texture.
- Take out Kachoris on kitchen towel/absorbent paper to remove excess oil.
- Fry all Kachoris as per the process explained above (see Figure-4 for reference).
- Serve hot Kachoris with any chutney/ sauce of your choice. It’s goes perfect with hot tea especially in the rainy season.
