(VEG) Bengali Green Peas Kachori (Puri stuffed with green peas)

I make the stuffing with frozen green peas .

For ingredients we need:

- 1 small packet frozen green peas, defrosted.
- 1 tbs garam masala powder (cumin seeds,coriander seed, clove, cinnamon and cardamom, lightly roasted and ground)
- 1 tsp ghee or clarified butter.
- 2 green chilli and 1 inch fresh ginger, ground together into paste.
- Salt to taste.
- 1 tsp red chilli powder (optional).

How to prepare:

- Grind the defrosted peas in a food processor. Don't add water while grinding, and make sure the peas are not turned into fine paste.

- Heat 2 tbs veg. oil in a frying pan on a medium hot stove. Nonstick pan is "welcome". Put the ground green peas in the oil and continuously stir them until they are dry and do not stick to the pan. Add salt, garam masala, ghee, and the ginger-chilli paste, and make sure they are mixed well with the peas. Take it off the heat and allow it to cool thoroughly. If the stuffing is too pasty add some chick peas powder or all purpose flour - this dries out the stuffing and prevents it from oozing out while frying the puris.

- To prepare the dough for the puris, I have the recipe written in another post - check out how to make puris (luchis) by clicking here. Once you prepare the dough and divide it into small balls, take each ball, flatten it against your palm and put a little stuffing in the center of the dough. Then roll it into a ball.

- Once you finish stuffing the peas into the dough, heat vegetable oil (not olive oil) in a deep pot or a small wok. Allow it to heat properly on a medium heat stove. In the meantime roll out the dough on a wooden surface. (Dusting a little all purpose flour on the surface while rolling it helps the dough to not stick to the board). Do not roll the dough too thin or put pressure while rolling as those would allow the stuffing to ooze out from the side. (Should it still happen, just dab some flour over it and continue to roll).

-Take each rolled out puri, one at a time and put it in the hot oil, slightly pressing the center with a slotted spoon. That helps the puri to puff up. Once the lower side is lightly done turn it over, not allowing it to lose the green color. Take it out and drain the excess oil on a paper towel. Serve it with curried potatoes ('Aloo Dum'). The cauliflower recipe which I have in another post (click here) will go well with it.