Raj Kachori- crispy deep fried kachori filled with potatoes, moong dal, yogurt, spices and chutneys!

Topped with cilantro, sev, pomegranate this is the ultimate indulgence!

If you have lived in and around Delhi, then you must not be unfamiliar with Raj Kachori.

It’s the king/queen of all things chaat. This round crispy deep fried shell filled with all sorts of delicious filling not only looks enticing but is also very pleasing to the taste buds.

Raj Kachori used to be my favorite thing to eat at Haldiram’s (a restaurant chain in India). Their kachori is so good and also super filling. I would always over-stuff myself, which is nothing unusual since I tend to do that often when it comes to chaat.

What is Raj Kachori

So if we break the two words then-

raj= means royalty/grand here.

kachori= refers to a flaky, crispy savory snack/pastry made by deep frying dough. Various types of kachoris are made in India , some are stuffed, some are plain but they are all crispy.

Most kachoris are super simple compared to Raj Kachori, hence this kachori is like the king/queen of all kachoris. And that’s the reason it’s filled with so many things because it’s over the top in taste and also in presentation.

It’s usually topped with lots of yogurt, spices, cilantro chutney, sweet tamarind chutney, spices and pomegranate. The fillings and toppings are my favorite part of this dish. Makes it look so pretty, isn’t it?

There are two main components of this dish- the kachori and the filling.

The most important thing in my opinion is to get the kachori right, so let’s first talk about that.

Tips to Make The Perfect Raj Kachori

It’s all about using the right ingredient and the right temperature of oil. The kachori is made from fine sooji/semolina (not coarse) and a little bit of maida (all purpose flour) and besan (gram flour) for binding.

There will be some recipes which would call for more flour and little sooji, it does not work. For that crispy kachori, it has to be made with predominantly fine sooji.

I tried this recipe 6 times in 24 hours (joys of being a food blogger) to make sure I can share all the tips with you guys to get this right.

So let’s get to the tips!

Use the right sooji– you have to use fine sooji/rava/semolina for this kachori.

Do not and I repeat do not use coarse sooji that you use to make upma here, it will be a disaster. Yes I have been there and done that.

Use a little bit of baking powder in the recipe, it helps in puffing the kachoris.

Maida and besan help bind the dough and besan also adds to flavor.

Let the dough rest for 15 minutes before rolling the kachoris. Cover the dough with a damp cloth while it is resting, you don’t want it to dry out.

Roll the kachoris evenly, it’s important for them to puff. If the center if too thick and edges are thin or vice-versa, it might not puff.

Kachoris need to rolled neither too thick nor too thin. Do not roll them extra thin like roti.

Fry at the correct oil temperature-  which is medium heat. If it’s too hot, kachoris will not be crispy.

If oil is too cold then the kachoris won’t puff up and just absorb oil. So keep heat at medium.

Splatter oil on top of the kachori (part which is not dipped in oil) with a spatula as soon as you add it to oil and keep pressing the top of the kachori with your spatula. This will help it puff up.

Fillings

Let’s talk about the fillings inside the kachori. The fillings are what makes this kachori so special and so flavorful.

Potatoes: I have never had a raj kachori without these.

Just simple diced potatoes are one of the main fillings for this kachori.

Moong dal: whole moong dal (sabut moong dal) is what is used as a filling here. I have only used the boiled dal in this recipe.

But the moong can also be sprouted and that can be used in the recipe too.

I usually soak around 1/3 cup moong dal for 3-4 hours and then pressure cook in my Instant Pot with 1 cup water for 10 minutes on high pressure with natural pressure release.

Chickpeas: I have also added some boiled chickpeas here. They go very well as a filling in this chaat.

Yogurt: of course lots and lots of yogurt is what this kachori needs. I have used plain milk yogurt which was whisked with some sugar and black salt and then used in the recipe.

This recipe needs tons of yogurt, it’s not only in the filling but also dolloped on top and all around.

Chutneys: the two chutneys- the cilantro chutney and the sweet tamarind chutney are essential here. Again like the yogurt, they are used in abundance in this kachoris.

The chutneys give these kachoris a lot of flavor and so we use lots of them.

Papdi: I have used some crushed papdi here to give that crunch in the filling. You can use any crispy snack here. For those unaware, papdi is deep fried crispy round savory snack made with flour.

Like even namak para would work.

Spices: of course not to forget the essential spices here which are roasted cumin powder and chaat masala. I like to roast and then coarsely ground cumin seeds for this recipe. The fresh cumin powder really makes a difference.

Chaat masala is of course a key spice here which is sprinkled inside the filling and also on top. I have also used some kashmiri red chili powder for that pretty color on top.

Garnishes: for the garnishes, I have used cilantro, pomegranate, sev (fried thin noodles made of gram flour). These make the kachori visually appealing and add to flavors and textures too.

Other than these fillings, you can also add dahi bhalla, boondi, moong/chana dal namkeen– they would all go so well. In fact, I love raj kachoris stuffed with dahi bhalla, but I didn’t have bhalla ready to go when I made these so I skipped on those.

If you have a batch of dahi bhalla ready to go, do add them, they make a wonderful addition.

Making It In Advance

As you can see, there are various components to this kachori so this might be a big task if you want to make everything on one day.

Here’s what you can do to save time-

Make the fillings in advance- make the chutneys, boil the moong dal, chickpeas, potatoes in advance. This will save you tons of time on the day you want to make the kachoris. You can also whisk the yogurt and keep it ready to go.

Make the kachoris in advance- I have also made these kachoris and had them the next day and they stayed as crispy as ever. Let them cool down completely and then I store them in airtight container and they were fine the next day.

I left them at room temperature and they were just fine the next day.

Shortcuts: Also to make your life easier, you can use store bought tamarind chutney and canned chickpeas here. Even store bought cilantro chutney is fine, I just prefer making that at home always.

 

Method

It’s a good idea to make all the fillings in advance- boil the potatoes and dice them, boil the moong dal, boil the chickpeas or use canned chickpeas, prepare the cilantro chutney and sweet tamarind chutney (you can also use store bought).

And in a large bowl whisk together 4 cups of yogurt with 4 teaspoons sugar and 1 teaspoon kala namak. Set it aside.

 

1- To a bowl add fine sooji, maida, besan, salt and baking powder. Mix using a whisk.

2- Add 2 teaspoons oil.

3- And then start adding water and knead to form a soft and smooth dough (should not be hard at all as semolina absorbs water as it sits so make the dough a little more on the softer side).

Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let rest for 15 minutes. Meanwhile heat oil (around 1-2 inches of oil) in a kadai on medium heat (not too hot and not too cold), medium is what you want.

4- Then pinch take portion out of the dough (around 45-50 grams ) and roll it between your palms to make a round, then press to flatten it.

5- Dip pressed dough in little oil (this helps if dough has become little dry and also helps in rolling) and start rolling the kachoris now.

I rolled to a rough circle and then use a bowl/karoti to trim the edges so that I have clean edges. I didn’t have a cookie cutter that big so katori worked.

6- You should have a circle of around 4 to 5 inches diameter. Now, I like to roll it a little again, just one stroke length wise and one width wise to make sure it’s not very thick and all even.

You can roll all kachoris at one time and then fry (keep all rolled kachoris covered else dough will dry out).

7- Add one rolled kachoris into the oil.

8- As soon as you drop it, push oil over the top of the kachori which is not dipped in oil with a spatula and also keep pressing the top of the kachori, this will help it in puffing it up.

9- Keep pressing the top with a spatula and it will puff up if rolled evenly.

10- Turn few times to get it evenly golden from both sides. Then remove fried kachori on a plate and fry all kachoris similarly. Now wait for kachoris to cool.

11- Now once it has cooled down, arrange the kachori on a serving plate. Then tap and break the top of the kachoris to make space for the filling.

Add around 1/2 tablespoon diced potatoes (4-5 small pieces of diced potatoes) and 1 tablespoon boiled chickpeas. Also crush a papdi and add.

12- Sprinkle chaat masala and cumin powder.

13- Then add around 1 tablespoon whisked yogurt, followed by 1 tablespoon boiled moong dal.

14- Top with teaspoon of cilantro chutney and teaspoon of sweet tamarind chutney.

15- Again top with 2-3 tablespoons yogurt, followed by more cilantro and sweet chutney. Sprinkle cumin powder, chaat masala, red chili powder on top.

16- And finally garnish with cilantro, sev and pomegranate. Make all kachoris similarly. You will get around 10 kachoris from this.

Serve raj kachori immediately, as soon as you make them with extra yogurt drizzled on the side.

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