KORAISHUTIR KOCHURI O ALOOR DUM

We call Green Peas....Koraishuti....n....this Koraishutir Kachuri....as we call it....was a winter treat for us in our childhood. It is usually served with aloor dum or cholar dal among us. Green Peas were available only in winter then. Cold wintry Sunday morning, hot kachoris / kochuris being fried in the kitchen.....who on earth can concentrate on studies....not me at least....Every five minutes I had to peep into the kitchen to check what is going on....with each visit I picked up one and finished in just three little bites. Before my mom could serve them on a plate, I would have finished 3-4 kachoris. Dear mom's patented warning came as....."Girls should not behave like this."Poor me never understood why girls should have so much of restrictions....before I could come to any conclusion on it, I could hear the baritone voice saying....let her have....someone reading the newspaper was very indulgent about his daughter....he introduced me to the world of reading at a very tender age and had given immense freedom, even while choosing my life partner. From him, I have learnt we need to guide our kids and never try to control their lives.

So Sunday Mornings meant amazing with kid's bi-monthly magazines, special breakfasts accompanied by rasgullas or jalebis, followed by a chicken / mutton curry with rice for lunch watching Ramayan on TV....was altogether a treat.

 Preparing green peas kachori or koraishutir kochuri has become so very easy these days with frozen packets available throughout the year. Just get them, thaw and proceed with your recipe. Let us do that now. I will also give the recipe of the Dum Aloo which is done with a special marination of milk and lemon juice.

INGREDIENTS[for the kachoris] :
Plain Flour : 2 coffee cups
Semolina : 1medium tea cup
Salt : As required
Green Peas : 250 gm
Ginger Paste : 2tsp
Cumin Powder : 1tsp
Green Chilli : 2
Asafoetida : 4pinches
Turmeric Powder : 2 pinches
Cumin Seeds : 2 pinches
Oil : 150ml + 2tbsp

INGREDIENTS[For Dum Aloo] :
Potatoes[medium] : 500gm
Milk : 1 cup[big]
Lemon : 2[big]
Onion : 2[big]
Kashmiri Mirch Powder : 1tsp
Green Chilli : 4
Ginger Paste : 2 tbsp
Garlic Paste : 2tsp
Salt : As required
Turmeric : 2 pinches
Cinnamon : 1[1 inch stick]
Green Cardamom : 2
Cloves : 3
Bay Leaf : 1
Sugar : 1tsp
Oil : 3tbsp

PROCEDURE : [for Aloor Dum]

Peel and cut the potatoes into halves. Wash them. Make holes in the potatoes with a fork. Marinate with salt, 2 pinches of turmeric, milk n lemon juice. The marinade may curdle, do not worry, this dish demands so. At the end you get a tangy sweet Dum Aloo. Cover and keep aside for at least 4 hours. Get the spice pastes ready, slit the green chillies, slice the onions.

Heat oil in a wok. Temper with bayleaf, cinnamon stick, cardamom and cloves. As they give a nice aroma add the sliced onions. Fry till brown. Add the ginger-garlic paste along with slitted green chillies. Fry well and add salt, turmeric and Kashmiri chilli powder. Stir well and add the marinated aloo along with the marinade. Stir well and cover cook at low heat for about 15-20 minutes. You need to stir every 5 minutes to avoid burning or sticking. Check if the aloos are done, then add the sugar, little water and switch off after another 3-4 minutes. Transfer into a serving bowl.

Now let us prepare the Koraishutir Kochuri or Green Pea stuffed poori.

Make a dough with the refined flour, semolina, little salt, 2tbsp oil and water as required. 

Keep aside for 1/2 an hour covered with a wet cloth. 

For the filling, make a paste of the green peas along with 2 green chillies. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok. Temper with the cumin seeds. Add in the ginger paste, fry well. Add the cumin powder and stir. Add in the asafoetida and immediately the green peas paste, followed by salt and turmeric. Keep on stirring till it dries up and the sides tend to come out. Once done transfer into a bowl. Let it cool. We are using here very little turmeric to retain the green colour of the peas filling.

Remove cover, tear off smaller portions and make round balls from the dough. Make pockets to put in the fillings and close again. See the picture below.

Once the kachori balls are ready, with help of a rolling pin and base, lets roll the kachoris / kochuri dusting the balls lightly with flour. Do not press the kachoris hard with the rolling pin, filling may come out. Look at the picture below.

Heat oil in a wok. Fry the kachoris / kochuris one at a time. When one side is done then flip onto the other side. Just as in the picture below.

Serve hot the Koraishutir Kochuri / Green Peas Kachoris with Dum Aloo accompanied by sweets of your choice!