GARLIC LILVA KACHORI

Garlic Lilva Kachori has an unsurpassed taste. This Lilva Kachori has the addition of garlic and a soft pastry for a new exciting kachori recipe.

 

LILVA KACHORI RECIPE WITH GARLIC

I first tried these Vegan Kachoris when I was very young in the English city of Leceister. Being from London, Leicester was too far to travel so my Mum would occasionally make these at home. 

11 years later, I gave the recipe a go for myself!

Indian Food in Leicester

Leceister, UK is a city where you can find traditional Indian fast-food in abundance. In particular, you can find Gujarati sweet marts.

My aunty used to live in Leceister and when we visited she would order food from the various Indian restaurants and cafes near the area. 

Melton Road and Belgrave Road are particularly famous for long stretches of Indian restaurants and fast-food joints! It also has stores for Indian kitchen utensils and grocery. Basically, a food lover's dream!

But fashionistas - do not despair. This road also has plenty of Indian fashion stores. It is like your one-stop-shop!

Garlic Kachori from Ajay's, Leicester 

There used to be a fast-food takeaway called Ajay's on Narborough Road close to where my Aunty used to live. 

When we once visited around 20 years ago, she bought us all these Garlic Lilva Kachori and various other fried goodies! She told us that these Garlic Kachori are unique to this shop in Leceister. 

Whenever we would go to Leicester, we would visit this shop and a guaranteed order would be these Garlic kachoris! This includes one time we were travelling down from Scarborough back to London and we just had to stop on the way home!!!

What is Kachori

Kachori is deep-fried pastries that are filled with various spicy fillings (something similar to samosa) and often served at afternoon tea but it can be served as a canape at any get-together or as part of an Indian style feast. 

In Gujarat, these deep-fried Kachoris are served in a Gujarati Thali as farsan (savoury item).  

Depending on the part of India that you visit, you will find different styles of kachori. 

In Rajasthan, you'll find pyaz (onion) kachori, moong daal Khasta Kachori and mawa kachori which is similar to Mawa Gujiya that are stuffed with milk solids and nuts. 

In North India, Raj kachori and Khasta Kachoris are hugely popular and often served as a chaat. 

Usually in North India and Rajasthan Kachoris are served with Rasadar Aloo Tamatar Ki Sabji 

In Gujarat, during winter Tuver Lilva Kachori quite popular, throughout the year yellow moong daal and Sukha mewa kachoris are hugely in demand. 

Whilst in other parts of the India Matar (green peas) kachori, hing kachori and daal kachori. Also in many parts of the Indian these kachoris are made flat like Poori. 

Why this Garlic Lilva Kachori is different

This kachori recipe is different from other lilva kachori recipes for a few reasons. 

Firstly, this recipe has garlic cloves in the filling. The garlic gives a wonderful flavour to the kachoris which you can't find in plain lilva kachoris. The filling is, therefore, spicy, garlicky and ever-so-slightly sweet.

Secondly, the pastry for this kachori is different than all other types. The pastry for these kachoris is thinner and softer making this recipe of kachori unique. The pastry has a similar resemblance to samosa pastry. 

The pastry is neither crispy, nor hard or flaky. 

Frozen Lilva Kachori

Frozen lilva kachori is easily available in the Indian groceries and British supermarkets but the uniqueness of the flavour of these means that you can't find them anywhere else. 

How to make perfect pastry for Garlic Kachori

The pastry for this kachori is unique. It is soft and not hard like other kachoris. 

This makes the kachori easy to eat and it doesn't crumble everywhere when you eat it. 

To make the pastry, you will need the following ingredients:

Generally, kachori's outer layer or pastry made using plain flour and sometimes has semolina added to it but here we are using

• Plain flour aka maida 
• Wholewheat flour or chapatti flour 
• Oil and salt

1. In a wide big plate add all the flours, oil and salt.

2. Knead the dough using tap water and cover it with the damp kitchen towel for half an hour.

3. Divide the dough into equal (apricot) size portions and make balls.

How to make the Garlic Tuver Lilva kachori masala/filling

For the filling, you will need:

Green Peas - aka Matar or Vatana. I have used frozen but you can use fresh ones. 

Tuver Lilva - I have used frozen, one can use fresh if available. Tuver is used in our Surti Undhiyu. 

Oil - try not to use very strong flavoured oil such as extra virgin olive oil or mustard oil.

Spices - red chilli powder, ground cumin and coriander powder, garam masala and amchoor powder. 

Seeds - mustard, sesame and fennel seeds. 

Asafoetida akan hing or yellow powder. 

Garlic, ginger and green chillies - crushed or paste. 

Sugar - regular granulated sugar works best, it's a must ingredient in Gujarati Kachoris! 

Coconut - desiccated coconut works best. 

Seasoning.

You may wonder if using frozen peas and lilva alters the flavour. I can assure you that it doesn't. Using fresh or frozen gives the same wonderful taste :)

1. Take frozen green peas and lilva, defrost then blend or grind using a grinder. Keep it coarse. 

2. Heat 1 tbsp. oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and hing.

3. Once it splutters add coarsely ground lilva mixture. 

 4. Cook the mixture for at least 5-6 minutes.

5. Then add all the masala, ginger, chilli, garlic, sugar, salt, coconut and crushed fennel and sesame seeds. 

 6. Cook further for 5-6 minutes, keep stirring all the time then leave it cool completely. 

How to assemble/shape Kachori

Once the mixture is totally cooled, it is time to assemble or shape kachoris. It is a little time-consuming step but all the efforts are totally worth it. 

7. Roll out the one pastry ball on a flat surface using a rolling pin in round shape. I kept the circle around 10cm. 

8. Make small stuffing ball or 1 tablespoon of stuffing and put in the centre of the circle. 

9. Seal the edges by bringing all the sides together, remove extra dough. 

10. All the kachoris are filled, shaped and ready to fry.

How to fry kachori and Tips for the best Kachori

The heat of the oil for this kachori should be on a low temperature - we want the oil to be just hot. This will keep the pastry soft and won't burn. 

Make sure the stuffing is well dry and doesn't contain moisture. 

11. Heat oil in a kadai or wok. 

12. Add 3-4 kachoris at a time. 

13. Fry them on low to medium heat, so they cook evenly and doesn't burn.

14. Once golden all over, remove and serve hot.

Can I bake Kachori

You can bake Kachori, however, you won't get an authentic taste. Kachoris are best enjoyed deep-fried.

However, that isn't to say that you cannot bake them. To bake these kachoris, brush with oil and place in a pre-heated oven at Gas Mark 4 for 20/25 minutes. Keep an eye on the kachoris so that the top doesn't burn. 

Remember, the filling inside is already cooked, so they will not need too long. 

Keeping the pastry in the oven for too long will make it go hard.

Air-Fried Kachori

If you or anyone you know is following a low oil diet, you can also suitably air-fry these kachoris. 

Method for Air-frying Lilva Kachoris:

Make the kachoris using this recipe and method.

Brush it with the oil and air fry them in a preheated air fryer at 350F or 180C and air fry for 10-12 minutes or golden. 

What to serve with Kachori 

The flavour of these kachoris is so phenomenal that it doesn't really need to be served with anything in particular.

If you wish to have chutney on the side, then Gujarati Date and Tamarind Chutney aka Imli Chutney is your best bet. 

In the unlikely occasion you have leftover Kachori, why not transform them into Kachori Chaat, much like our Leftover Khaman Dhokla Chaat

In India, Kachori is often served with Masala Chai or Karak Chai.

My personal choice would be cold drinks such as Mango and Lime Lassi  - just so heavenly!

How to customise this Tuver Lilva Kachori

You can adapt this recipe to suit your tastebuds or depending on what is available. 

You can use either of the peas, either the kachori can be made completely with peas or entirely with lilva.

Ground masala or spices powders are the backbones of this recipe, they lend sensational flavours so not to be missed any, you may decrease or increase the quantity to suit your needs. Add less spice to make it easy to eat for the whole family. 

You can leave out the sugar if you do not want a sweet and hot flavour. 

You can use only wheat flour for the pastry.

Can you reheat Kachori

Kachori can be reheated in a number of ways.

You can reheat in the oven for 5/10 mins but that may make the casing hard. 

You can reheat the kachori for 20/30 seconds in the microwave also. 

Can you freeze Kachori

You can freeze kachori at two different steps in the method.

You can prepare the kachori and assemble. However, do not deep-fry but freeze to deep-fry at a later date. The oil for this reason, will have a little more heat than suggested above. 

You can also freeze once you have fried the kachori. Allow to completely cool before freezing. To reheat, simply bake for 10/15 minutes on Gas Mark 4/5. 

Leftover Stuffing or dough - preventing food waste

Use this lilva stuffing, (if left any) to stuff vegetables such as potato and small aubergine or eggplants. 

By chance, if you have leftover dough, make Gujarati Sadi Bhakhri. 

If you like this recipe, you may also like:

Packed Potato Bhajiya aka Atom Bomb Bhajiya

Khasta Aloo Matar Kachori

Poha Kachori

Gujarati Batata Vada 

Gujarat Na Dal Vada 

Maru Na Bhajiya

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lilva kachori, garlic kachori, tuver lilva, recipes with green peas, lilva recipe

Snacks, Farsan

Gujarati

Yield: 12-15 kachoris

Author: Hayley Dhanecha

GARLIC LILVA KACHORI

Garlic Lilva Kachori has an unsurpassed taste. This vegan Lilva Kachori has the addition of garlic and a soft pastry for a new exciting kachori recipe.

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 30 Mininactive time: 30 MinTotal time: 1 H & 15 M

Ingredients

Stuffing (1 cup = 250ml)

• 150g frozen green peas - 1 cup
• 150g frozen pigeon peas - 1 cup
• 2-3 tbsp. ginger-garlic-chilli paste
• 1 tbsp. oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp. fennel seeds crushed 
• 1 tsp. garam masala
• 2 tsp. ground cumin and coriander
• 1 tsp. red chilli powder
• 1 tsp. dry mango powder
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. sesame seeds
• 1tbsp. desiccated coconut
• Pinch asafoetida

Pastry

• 135g plain flour (1 cup)
• 130g chapati flour (1 cup)
• 4 tbsp. oil
• Pinch salt 

Extra

• Oil to deep fry

Instructions

Stuffing

1. Defrost pigeon peas and green peas. 
2. Grind coarsely in a grinder. 
3. In a heavy bottom pan heat oil and add mustard seeds and asafoetida. 
4. After splutter add peas and cook for 6-7 minutes on very low heat. 
5. Add all the masala, ginger, garlic and chilli paste, sugar and seasonings. 
6. Keep stirring the mixture to prevent sticking it to the bottom of the pan. 
7. Let it cook further about 5-6 minutes. 
8. Switch off the heat and allow it to cool before using it.

Pastry

1. In a big wide bowl add both flours, oil and salt then rub the mixture with your fingertips.
2. Knead a semi-stiff dough using tap water.
3. Cover the dough with a clean damp kitchen towel.
4. Leave it aside for half an hour.

Assemble

1. Divide the dough into small portions (apricot size) and roll into a small circle, around 10cm/4inch. Put a spoonful of the filling into the centre, then fold the dough over the filling to form a ball and seal the edges with a peak at the top. You can grease your palms a little and roll the ball between them to form an even ball if that's easier. Repeat for all the kachoris. Now heat oil in a wok and deep fry 3-4 kachoris at a time over low-to-medium heat till they are golden brown in colour. Serve hot.

Calories

249.95

Fat (grams)

12.95

Sat. Fat (grams)

2.14

Carbs (grams)

26.80

Fiber (grams)

3.81

Net carbs

22.99

Sugar (grams)

3.05

Protein (grams)

7.11

Sodium (milligrams)

282.12

Cholesterol (grams)

8.49

The nutritional information provided is an approximation calculated by an online calculator. Please consult a professional dietitian for nutritional advice.

https://www.jcookingodyssey.com/2010/04/garlic-lilva-kachori.html

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Note - this recipe was posted on our blog on the 14th of April 2010, since I have updated the post with new content and pictures.