Hinger Kochuri

Fried Pancakes or Indian bread stuffed with a filling of lentil-asafoetida mix

Though Hing er Kochuri with Alur Dum was a favourite Sunday brunch during growing up years, it was my cousin's visit last week that propelled me to make it myself. Without access to my cooking guru, my Ma, I had to go by the taste I remembered. It was more of a trial and error which thankfully yielded moderately good results...though the hing flavour was a tad too mild for my satisfaction. So today when I made it again, I added some more hing and the flavour was just about right. I still havent had the opportunity to confirm my impromptu recipe's accuracy from Ma. Once I do and if there are any modifications, will post the same...

For now, the recipe for the Hing er Kochuri goes as follows :

Ingredients :
Chholar dal (Split chickpea) 100 gms - Soaked overnight
Kolai /Urad dal (White lentils) - 150 -200gms - Soaked for 1 hour
Fennel Seeds - dry roasted-for seasoning
Hing/ Asafoetida - 4 tbsp
Oil - 1/2 litre
Maida/All purpose flour - 1/2 kg
Salt to taste
Green chilli - 1 or 2 (Optional)
Red Chilli - a pinch (Optional)

Procedure :
For the filling :
1. Mix the soaked dal/lentils, throw in a tsp of salt, a green chilli and grind them together to make a paste. It need not be a very smooth paste.


2. In a wok, add about 3-4 tbsp of oil. Temper with fennel seeds. Add the hing/asafoetida, fry for a few second (dont overfry...hing burns ver easily). Add the dal/lentil paste. Add sallt, as required. Mix well. Fry for about 10 minutes or till the hing, lentil paste and salt have mixed unirformly. Keep aside.

For the Dough
1. In a small skillet, take a tbsp of oil. Heat it and throw in a tsp of Hing. Fry for a second or two. Take it off the flame.

2. Now take the maida. Mix the oil+Hing as above, to the maida. Sprinkle a pinch of salt. And mix well.

3. Now knead the maida into a soft dough.

4. Like in making puri/luchi, pinch of balls off the dough, roll them into smooth balls. Then make cavities in the centre and add a spoonful of the lentil-hing mix. Fold up the dough cup with the lentil mix in the centre and seal it and again roll into ball.

5. Now roll out the balls as you would in case of puri/luchi.

6. Deep fry.

The Hing er Kochuris are ready to be eaten with the Alur Dum or achar, Chholar Daal, or just plain!

Note : With the maida, around 14 Kochuris could be made. The filling of dal-hing mix can be refrigerated in an air tight box for a few days. I make the maida dough fresh each time.

This is my entry to the event 'My Legume Love Affair-Ninth Helping' (MLLA9) hosted for the month by Laurie of Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska.

The creator of this interesting event which is doing its 9th round is Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook.

The logo for the event is :