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Benarasi Dal Kachori is all about true flavors of Varanasi in UP state of India. The one thing I keep in mind while making any such fried dish is that it should absorb less amount of oil and if a kachori is high on oil, the vegetables should be very light but spicy to minimize the oil/ghee content of the whole meal.
Even the original makers, Kachoriwalas of Varanasi seem to follow this at least about the vegetables, they make it so light and always put some black gram, paneer or palak (spinach), etc to make it as healthy as it can be.
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4
Origin: Uttar Pradesh
Ingredients for Benarasi Dal Kachori
Deep-fried black lentil and whole-wheat flour puffed bread.
- 1 cup (125 g) whole-wheat flour (atta)
- 3 Tbsp (45 g) ghee
- ½ cup (100 g) black lentils (urad dal), soaked in water overnight, drained
- ½ cup (85 g) semolina (suji)
- 1 tsp carom seeds (ajwain)
- 1 tsp red chile powder
- Salt, to taste
- Ghee, for frying
Cooking Method Benarasi Dal Kachori
- In a small bowl, combine the flour and ghee. Rub with your fingertips until the ghee is well incorporated and the mixture resembles bread crumbs.
- In a blender or food processor, grind the drained black lentils into a fine paste. Add the paste to the flour mixture along with the semolina, carom seeds, and red chili powder. Season to taste with salt. Knead the mixture with enough water to form a medium-soft dough. Divide the dough into small rounds and roll into small disks (puris).
- In a deep skillet over medium-high heat, heat the ghee for frying.
- Working in batches, gently place the disks into the hot ghee. Deep-fry until they puff up, about 30 seconds for each disk. With a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Serve hot.
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