Rajasthani Pyaaz Kachori Onion Pastry

Method

1. 1

   Make the pastry dough: Mix maida, oil and salt together. Rub the oil into the flour until crumbly. Add cold water gradually — about 1/2 cup — and knead to a smooth firm dough. Minimal kneading keeps it flaky. Cover and rest 15 minutes.

2. 2

   Make the onion filling: Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan on medium. Add cumin seeds and fennel seeds — stir 15 seconds. Add the very finely chopped onions. Cook on medium-high heat stirring every 2 minutes for 10 minutes until the onions turn light golden. They need to be cooked down significantly — raw onions make the filling wet.

3. 3

   Add mashed potato and spices: Add the mashed potato to the cooked onion. Add green chilli, ginger paste, red chilli powder, turmeric, amchur and salt. Mix everything together. Cook on medium heat stirring for 3 minutes. Add garam masala. Stir. Remove from heat. The filling should be dry, not wet. Cool completely before stuffing.

4. 4

   Taste the filling: Taste the cooled filling — it should be spicy, tangy from the amchur, and the onion should be the main flavour. Adjust salt if needed.

5. 5

   Divide dough and filling: Divide the rested dough into 10 to 12 equal balls. Divide the filling into the same number of portions.

6. 6

   Shape the kachori: Take one dough ball. Flatten it in your palm into a disc about 8 cm wide. Place one portion of filling in the centre. Bring the dough edges up around the filling, pleating and pinching firmly at the top to seal completely — no filling should show through. Press gently to flatten slightly into a disc shape about 7 cm wide.

7. 7

   Heat oil for slow frying: Pour oil to 5 cm depth in a heavy kadai. Heat on low-medium — test by dropping a small dough piece, it should rise slowly within 4 seconds. Kachori must be fried slowly.

8. 8

   Fry slowly until golden and cooked through: Add 3 to 4 kachori at a time. Fry on low-medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes, turning every 2 to 3 minutes, until they turn a deep golden colour all over and feel firm. The slow frying ensures the pastry is flaky, not doughy inside.

9. 9

   Drain: Remove with a slotted spoon. Drain on paper towels.

10. 10

    Serve hot: Serve with tamarind chutney (made by boiling tamarind with jaggery and spices) and green coriander chutney. Cut one kachori open at the table — the crispy flaky shell breaking open to reveal the spiced onion filling is part of the experience.

11. 11

    Note: Pyaaz Kachori is the breakfast of Jaipur. The kachori shops in Jaipur's old city open before 6 am and queues form immediately. The most famous kachori shop in Jaipur — Rawat Misthan Bhandar — has been operating near the railway station for decades. The slow frying technique is the defining skill — a kachori fried quickly on high heat will be oily and raw inside.