Dal Kachori is a crispy fried pastry filled with a spiced split lentil mixture — coarser, spicier and more aggressively flavoured than the Rajasthani version it superficially resembles. The Sindhi filling is built on asafoetida and amchur, the lentils coarser, the pastry thinner and more brittle, the eating experience one of structural crunch giving way to a filling that is dry rather than pasty and aromatic with the whole cumin and coriander seeds that appear throughout Sindhi snack cooking. It is sold at street corners in Hyderabad and Karachi’s older neighbourhoods and eaten with sweet tamarind chutney.
Zone: Indus Plains
SOURCE: Sindhi home cook, Hyderabad Sindh, recipe from Women’s Institute community cookbook, 2018
LOCAL NAME: دال کچوری
INGREDIENTS
- For the filling: ½ cup chana dal (soaked 2 hours)
- ¼ tsp asafoetida (hing)
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp coriander seeds (coarsely crushed)
- 1 tsp amchur (dry mango powder)
- ½ tsp red chilli powder
- ½ tsp fennel seeds
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp neutral oil
- For the pastry: 1½ cups plain flour
- 2 tbsp neutral oil or ghee
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ajwain (carom seeds)
- cold water to knead
- neutral oil for deep-frying
- tamarind chutney to serve
METHOD
- Drain the soaked chana dal and coarsely grind — not smooth, keep some texture. Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan. Add the asafoetida, cumin and coriander seeds; sizzle 20 seconds. Add the ground dal, amchur, chilli, fennel and salt. Cook, stirring, until the mixture is completely dry and slightly toasted, 5–7 minutes. Cool completely.
- For the pastry: mix flour, salt and ajwain. Rub in the oil until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add cold water a tablespoon at a time to form a firm dough, not soft. Knead 5 minutes. Rest 15 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 8 balls. Roll each into a thin disc (about 3mm). Place a spoonful of dal filling in the centre. Bring the edges together and seal firmly, ensuring no filling escapes. Roll gently again to a flat, smooth round.
- Heat oil to 160°C — a steady, not violent temperature. Fry the kachori in batches for 5–6 minutes, turning, until crisp and golden throughout. They need a slow fry to cook through.
- Drain and serve with tamarind chutney.
NOTES
UK adaptation: Chana dal from any South Asian grocer. Plain flour or a mix of plain and semolina for a crisper crust. Amchur and asafoetida from any South Asian grocer. Everything else widely available.
US adaptation: Chana dal from Patel Brothers or H-Mart. All-purpose flour for the crust. Amchur and asafoetida from Indian grocery stores. Everything else widely available.
Cook’s note: The dal filling must be completely dry before it goes into the pastry — any moisture steams from inside and makes the kachori soggy rather than crispy. Cook until every trace of liquid is gone.
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