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These khasta kachoris made with urad daal filling are super flaky and tasty. I have shared both the deep fried and air fryer recipes here.

Kachori is a savoury pastry made with wholewheat flour and a spicy lentil filling. It is had with tari wale aloo tamatar curry as a filling snack or meal.

This is a popular food from northern state of Uttar Pradesh in North India. It is also made regularly on festive occasions.

urad dal kachoris on a white plate with tari wale aloo in the background

I make these delightful urad dal kachoris for festivals like Diwali. They are filling and are redolent with the memories of my childhood.

My mum religiously made them every Diwali with the signature aloo ki sabzi. Hence all my Diwalis have got entwined with kachoris.

These days I make a larger batch of filling and keep making kachoris over a few days mainly as a satisfying snack. They are lovely Air fried so that's a good plus too.

Here I leave you with the recipe for urad dal kachoris. The filling can be stored in the fridge for a couple of days.

You can then use it to make stuffed parathas that taste heavenly with spicy green chutney.

Pictures

For the filling:

Soak urad dal or white lentils in water for 4-5 hours. Drain it well and blend it in the mixer with ginger. Or you can add finely chopped ginger to the blended dal or lentil.

Make sure you leave the dal mix slightly coarse with some dal remaining whole or semi whole. Let it be very thick and don't add water.

Now heat 2 tsp. oil in a kadhai or non-stick pan. Add 1 tsp. cumin seeds and let it sputter.

Dry roast pepper, fennel and coriander seeds and coarsely powder them.

Tip in the blended dal mix and add in the powdered dry masalas along with turmeric powder and amchur powder.

Now slowly cook the dal mix on a low flame till it gets completely cooked. It takes about 10-15 minutes for this.

Let it cool completely. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

For the outer crust

For the outer shell, make a stiff dough by adding flour, sooji, salt and carom seeds. Then add the oil and mix well till you get a sand-like consistency.

Add water little by little after that to knead the dough. Keep it aside for half an hour covered with a damp cloth.

I used mustard oil hence the yellow tinge to the dough.

To make the kachoris

Divide the dough into 10-12 balls. Make a round ball and roll it out a bit.

Then make a pocket in the ball so that you can put the filling in.

Put a generous portion of the filling and bring the edges together and seal them on top to form a big round ball. Roll them out with a rolling pin till they are poori sized.

Kachoris are fat and small so don't roll them out too much.

Never overfill the kachoris or the filling will seap out later.

Frying the kachoris

Heat oil in a kadhai and deep fry these kachoris till golden on both sides.

Don't overcrowd the pan. Always deep fry on medium heat.

Air frying the kachoris

Preheat Air fryer to 200 C or 390 F for 4 minutes.

Brush the air fryer basket and put 2-3 prepared and rolled out kachoris depending on the size of your Air fryer.

Now Air fry for 5-6 minutes till the kachoris look lightly browned and done.

They also puff up a little.

They look drier than the deep fried ones but are very flaky and tasty.

Pro Tips:

Don't skimp on the oil in the flour or your outer crust or pastry will end up being hard and dry.
Don't overfill the kachoris or the filling will come out while rolling or frying.
Make the filling spicy so that the kachoris taste nice and spicy.
You can also use moong dal and follow the same recipe.
These kachoris can be stored in an airtight container and can be heated in an Air fryer or microwave before consuming. You can also eat them at room temperature.
Once fried or airfried, these kachoris stay good for 2-3 days when stored at room temperature.

Consume with tari wale aloo-tamatar (a potato curry in a tomato gravy) or with any curry of your choice. You can also have these as a tea-time snack.

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Khasta Urad Dal Kachori Recipe

Rachna Parmar

These tasty urad dal kachoris are perfect for festivals like Diwali or as a snack with chai. Both Air fryer and deep fried recipes are shared.

5 from 5 votes

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Cook Time 30

Soaking time 6

Total Time 6 30

Course Accompaniment | Appetizer, Snack

Cuisine North Indian | Uttar Pradesh | Punjabi

Servings kachoris

Calories 142 kcal

kachoris

Equipment

Air fryer

Ingredients

Outer Crust:

1.25 cups All purpose flour
1 tbsp. semolina or sooji
2 tbsp. Oil
½ tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Ajwain or carom seeds

Filling:

½ cup urad dal without skin
1 inch piece ginger
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. cayenne powder
½ tsp. turmeric powder
1 tbsp. fennel or saunf
1 tbsp. coriander seeds
½ tsp. asafoetida strong heeng
1 tsp. amchur or raw mango powder
1 tsp. black pepper
Salt to taste
2 tsp. oil
Oil for frying