Matar ki kachori is a flaky, crispy deep-fried pastry filled with savory, spiced green peas stuffing. In the Hindi language, matar means green peas and Kachori is a deep-fried and flaky pastry. These are like spiced empanadas. Peas Kachori served hot with some spicy coriander chutney and sweet dates chutney, is a food lover’s delight.
About Matar ki Kachori
There are many types of kachori made in the Indian cuisine. They are also a popular street food. A kachori is a stuffed round bread that is deep fried. The stuffing can vary from vegetables to lentils and even dry fruits.
They are not much different from the Samosa except for the filling and the shape. The crust of a kachori will also vary depending upon the recipe. It can be flaky, crispy or be soft.
This matar kachori has a flaky crust with a savory filling of tender green peas. This recipe can also be called Khasta matar kachori as the outer pastry is flaky and crisp. I usually make this snack when we get fresh green peas during the Indian winters.
I have earlier shared a few versions of kachori and you can check the links below:
- Kachori Recipe – Classic version
- Urad Dal Kachori – Made with urad dal (black lentils) stuffing.
- Raj Kachori – Royal Kachori Chaat
- Koraishutir Kochuri – Bengali Style soft textured peas kachori
These peas kachori are a nice warm breakfast during the winters. Yes you read it right, kachori is served as breakfast in some North Indian states. You can also serve it as a brunch or evening snack. They taste awesome with a side of green chutney and make for a filling snack.
How to make Matar ki Kachori
1: In a pan sieve 1 cup all-purpose flour (125 grams) with ¼ teaspoon baking powder (optional) and ¼ teaspoon salt or as required.
Instead of all-purpose flour, you can use whole wheat flour also or you can use half-half of both the flours. But remember that with whole wheat flour the texture will be slightly dense.
You can skip baking powder in the dough. But it helps to give a lighter and crispier texture to the crust.
2: Add 2 tablespoons oil. I have used sunflower oil. You can also use ghee instead but make sure that the ghee is in a soft state and not hardened.
3: With your fingertips mix the oil evenly with the flour and form a bread crumb-like consistency.
When you press this mixture between your palms, if will form a lump and should not fall apart or break.
4: Now add 3 to 4 tablespoons of lukewarm water or as needed in parts to the flour and begin to mix and knead.
Don’t add all the water at once. Go on adding a few tablespoons of water as required and knead the dough.
5: Knead into a dough that is smooth and firm or stiff. The dough should not be sticky. Cover with a damp cloth and keep aside for 30 to 40 minutes.
Don’t make a soft dough like that of roti. The soft dough will make for a soft crust like that of a poori and matar kachori has a crispy crust.
Making matar kachori stuffing
6: In the meantime now prepare the filling. Boil or steam 1 cup peas. Drain any water and keep aside. You can boil the peas in a steamer or stovetop pressure cooker. The potatoes were added to some other dish 🙂
You can use fresh or frozen peas.
7: Mash the peas to a coarse or semi-coarse consistency with a potato masher. Keep aside. You can also blend the peas in a blender or mixer grinder to a semi-coarse consistency.
8: Heat 2 teaspoons of oil. Add ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds and fry them till they splutter and get browned.
Use any neutral flavored oil. I have used sunflower oil. You can also use ghee (clarified butter).
9: Add ½ teaspoon green chili-ginger paste and fry for a minute on low heat.
To make green chili-ginger paste take about ½ inch of ginger and ½ or 1 green chili and then crush them in a mortar & pestle.
10: Add the coarsely mashed peas.
11: Add the following dry spice powders. Stir and mix well.
- ¼ teaspoon red chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon fennel powder
- ½ teaspoon chaat masala or add as per taste
- ½ teaspoon amchur powder (dry mango powder) or add as per taste
12: Add 1 tablespoon besan (gram flour) and saute for a couple of minutes until the raw aroma of besan goes away. The besan soaks up all the moisture and as a result, the stuffing mixture becomes dry. Hence making it easier to stuff and roll the peas kachori.
Instead of gram flour you can also use chickpea flour.
13: Keep the prepared peas filling aside.
Rolling matar kachori
14: Make about 5 to 6 equal-sized balls from the dough.
15: Roll into a 3 to 4 inches diameter disc with a rolling pin or using your palms flatten the ball on a lightly dusted rolling board.
16: Place the peas filling in the center of the disc. Brush the edges with water. Brushing the edges is optional. I do this so that the dough sticks very well while folding and the filling has no chance to come out.
17: Bring together all the edges in the center and join them. Then press them downwards towards the center. This step is much like the way we do for stuffed parathas. Make sure there are no cracks in the pastry dough. Or else the filling can come out while frying.
18: Flatten gently with your palms to a kachori of about 4 to 5 inches in size. You can also roll using a rolling pin, but do very gently as otherwise the pastry covering breaks.
Cover all the prepared kachori in a damp cloth and keep aside till you heat the oil.
Frying matar kachori
19: Heat oil for deep frying in a kadai (wok). Use any neutral flavored oil.
When the oil becomes medium hot, slid the prepared matar kachori gently and carefully into the hot oil.
The oil should not be very hot nor should be cold. Fry them at low to low-medium heat. You can also fry them at medium heat. Don’t overcrowd the kadai. Add as per capacity and size of the kadai so that it allows them enough space to puff while frying.
Read the notes section below in the recipe card, for getting the right temperature while frying.
20: The peas kachori would start puffing up. Fry the first side until golden and crispy. Then turn over with a slotted spoon and fry the second side.
21: Turn over a couple of times as needed and fry till they become golden brown and flaky from both sides. Make sure they are evenly fried.
22: Drain them on kitchen paper tissues to remove excess oil. Fry the remaining batches this way and regulate the heat as needed.
Serve matar ki kachori hot or warm with coriander chutney or mint chutney or tamarind chutney. In the below photo, I served them with pomegranate chutney.
Few more tasty Snacks Recipes
Snacks Recipes
Sweets Recipes
Indian Breads
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Matar Kachori
Ingredients
For pastry
- 1 cup all purpose flour – 125 grams, can also use whole wheat flour or both the flours in half-half ratio
- 2 tablespoons oil – I used sunflower oil, can use ghee
- 3 to 4 tablespoons water – lukewarm, add as required
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder – optional
- ¼ teaspoon salt or add as required
For matar kachori stuffing
- 1 cup green peas fresh or frozen
- ¼ teaspoon red chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon Coriander Powder
- ½ teaspoon fennel powder
- ½ teaspoon chaat masala or add as per taste
- ½ teaspoon amchur powder (dry mango powder) or add as per taste
- ½ teaspoon green chili-ginger paste or crushed or minced green chili & ginger – use about ½ inch of ginger and ½ or 1 green chili and then crush them in a mortar & pestle
- ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 teaspoons oil – can use ghee (clarified butter)
- 1 tablespoon besan (gram flour), can use chickpea flour
- salt as required
For frying
- 2 to 3 cups oil or as required
Instructions
Making pastry
- In a bowl sift the flour, salt and baking powder. Add oil and mix with your fingertips to form a bread crumb like mixture.
- Add water in parts – a few tablespoons at a time. Work to a smooth and stiff or firm dough. Cover with a damp cloth and set aside.
Making matar kachori stuffing
- Boil or steam the peas. Mash them coarsely or semi-coarsely.
- Heat oil and fry the cumin seeds till they splutter and get browned. Then add the crushed ginger-green chili paste. Fry for a minute on low heat.
- Add the coarsely mashed peas. Then add the dry spice powders and salt as required. Stir and mix well.
- Add the gram flour. Saute for a couple of minutes until the raw aroma of besan goes away.
- Check the seasoning and add some more of the spice powders or salt, if required.
Rolling matar ki kachori
- Make equal sized 5 to 6 balls from the dough. Roll into 3 to 4 inch round on a dusted board.
- Add some of the stuffing in the center. Brush some water on the edges.
- Bring together all the edges and pinch them. Press the edges downwards below.
- Roll into a 4 to 5 inches kachori. Prepare all matar kachoris like these.
- Keep them covered with a wet cloth.
Frying matar kachori
- Now heat oil in a kadai. When the oil becomes medium hot, slid the prepared matar kachori gently and carefully into the hot oil.
- The peas kachori would start puffing up. Fry the first side until golden and crispy. Then turn over with a slotted spoon and fry the second side.
- Turn over a couple of times as needed and fry till they become golden brown and flaky from both sides. Make sure they are evenly fried.
- Drain them on kitchen paper tissues to remove excess oil. Fry the remaining batches this way and regulate the heat as needed.
- Serve matar ki kachori hot with some coriander chutney or tamarind chutney or mint chutney or any green chutney of your choice.
Notes
- For making any flaky pastry, the proportion of flour to oil or ghee is important.
- You can choose to skip baking powder. But it helps to make a lighter and crispy crust.
- Also the amount of water required to knead is another important factor that determines the flakiness. Too much water will make the dough crisp but not flaky and too little can dry out the dough.
- Keep the kachori dough covered with a moist cloth at all times.
- Next comes the frying. Too hot oil won’t allow the dough to get flaky resulting in a crisp exterior with uncooked interiors and filling. Too cold oil would end up the dough soaking a lot of oil and the result would be an oily kachori. So the oil has to be at a low to low-medium temperature but not cold.
- To check the temperature while frying, add a small piece of dough to the oil. If it comes slowly and steadily to the surface, then the matar ki kachori are ready to be fried.
- If the dough comes quickly, the oil is too hot. So lower the flame. If it does not come on the surface, then the oil is cold. Increase the flame.
- A point to be remembered is that when you add the matar ki kachori to the hot oil, the temperature of the oil does get lowered naturally, so accordingly increase a bit of the flame.
- The spices in the kachori filling can be adjusted as per your preference.
- If dry mango powder is not available, then add some lemon juice instead.
- This recipe can be doubled or tripled.
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This Matar Kachori post from the archives (January 2013) has been republished and updated on 15 September 2021.
