enough luke warm waterI have used little more than½ cup
For filling
1and¼ cups green gram split lentils / chilka dal
1cupwater to soak and later pressure cook the dal
2tablespoonghee/oil
1green chilly finely chopped*
1teaspooncumin seeds / jeera
¼teapoon asafoetida / hing
2teaspoonred chilly powder / lal mirch
½teaspoonajwain seeds
½teaspoonturmeric / haldi
1teaspoondhaniya powder
2teaspoongaram masala*
2teaspoonamchoor powder*
salt to taste
fistful of fresh mint leaves finely chopped *
Instructions
For the dough
In a wide bowl , mix in flour , salt .
Now make a well in the center and pour the oil.
Rub the flour with oil to coat all the flour .
Now slowly add water in intervals to form a stiff pliable dough like a poori dough.
Cover with a cheesecloth or kitchen cloth and keep it aside for 30 minutes.
Just before rolling, knead the the dough for 10 seconds until smooth.
Now the dough is ready to work with.
See pictorial above for the same.
For filling
Soak the green gram dal for atleast 2 hours .
Pressure cook it upto 3 whistles on medium high heat.
Let the cooker cool down for 15 -20 minutes and carefully release excess steam if any and open the pressure cooker .
Add in some salt and amchoor powder to dal and mix well .
Heat ghee/oil in a non stick pan on low medium heat
Once warm add in cumin seeds .
Once the seeds begin to splutter add in hing / asafoetida
Now add in the dry masalas - turmeric , red mirch , ajwain , garam masala and sautee for 5 seconds.
Now add in the boiled dal and mash it with the help of the spoon .
Mix well until dal/ lentil is coated with masala about a minute and further cook until it's stiff enough for filling.
It will stiffen more after cooling down.
Refer to the pictorial above.
Now fold in the chopped mint leaves .
Switch off the flame and taste test.
Adjust seasoning if needed.
Cool the filling completely before making the gujiyas/kachoris .
Follow pictorial for filling method .
Do not overcrowd them while frying.
Deep fry them on low heat flipping them mid way until golden brown on both sides.
Notes
If you do not have semolina flour substitute it with all purpose flour itself. Adjust spices according to your taste. This recipe yields spicy gujiyas/ kachoris. If you don't have amchoor powder substitute it with 1 tablespoon or more lemon juice . If adding lemon juice you need to cook the filling a bit longer for the liquid to evaporate. Substitute fresh mint leaves with 1 tablespoon dry mint powder or add chopped cilantro / dhania leaves. Fry gujiyas on low flame for crunchy / khasta result . You can fill gujiyas/ kachoris before hand and cover it with moist and not wet kitchen cloth to prevent them from drying.