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Kachori is an Indian/Pakistani snack which can be filled with baked lentilsor cooked lentils or potatoes depending on where they come from.  These snacks are readily available in Indian grocery stores.  This recipe shows how to plate them in a chaat recipe. ‘Chaats’ refer to an array of snacks sold on side walks in carts and shops in India. This recipe is for one such chaat recipe.  The two common types of kachoris readily available in stores are Lilva Kachori (with green lentil filling – available in the frozen foods section) and the special Kachori (filled with roasted lentil and spices – available in the snack section).

Kind of food: Side dish
Makes: 1 pan(2 quarts)
How long: 20 min
Pots n pans: Oven

Ingredients
20  pieces of Kachori
1 15 oz can of garbanzo beans
2 potatoes
2 Tbsp chat masala (also available in Indian grocery stores)
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp black salt or regular salt
1 Tbsp cilantro (chopped fine)
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 cup of yogurt
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 cup of date chutney (also available in Indian grocery stores)
1/2 cup of green chutney (also available in Indian grocery stores)
1 cup of sev (snack available in the Indian grocery store -optional)

How to make:
If using Lilva Kachori: Preheat the oven to 400 and bake the kachori as mentioned on the packet.
If using special kachori : Preheat the oven to 350 and warm up the kachoris for 5 minutes.
While the kachoris are getting done take care of the following steps.
Cut the potatoes into small cubes. Rinse the potatoes and drain them. DO NOT DRY THEM. Place the potatoes in a microwavable bowl, cover and cook in a microwave on high for 2 min and let it rest.  When the potatoes are getting cooked, drain the garbanzo beans from the can, place them on a colander or sieve under the faucet. Thus you can drain and rinse simultaneously.  Chop the onions and cilantro.  Make a sauce by blending the 1 cup of yogurt with 1 Tbsp of chat masala and the chili powder using a fork . When the kachoris are warm use a sharp knife and cut them into quarters (it does not have to be perfect).  On the serving tray/pan assemble the quartered pieces.  Toss the cubed potatoes with the drained garbanzo, chat masala, cilantro, cumin powder and salt (or black salt). Sprinkle this potato mixture evenly on the kachori. Sprinkle the chopped onions evenly on top of the potato mixture. Drizzle that date and green chutneys evenly on the onion layer.  Spread the yogurt sauce evenly.  Sprinkle the sev on top as a thick coating.  The addition of sev is otpional.

Make it Fast, Fun, and Facile! – Sri

Tips, tricks and alternatives
The two kinds of chutneys combined with yogurt sauce provide for sweet (date chutney), sour (yogurt sauce) and spicy (green chutney) flavors.  If you prefer this dish to be predominatly sweet, then add more of the date chutney.  Like wise for the other two flavors.
Chat masala has salt in it – so no additional salt is required.

Serving ideas
This dish looks excotic when assembled in a glass (transparent shallow pan) revealing the colorful layers.  It has to be consumed in an hour, else it will turn soggy with the sauces penetrating through the layers.  It is not a good idea to toss the kachori chaat after assembling (it will turn soggy), so make sure the serving spoon does not misguide your guests to toss it.