Mawa Kachori Recipe
A crisp, flaky Rajasthani sweet kachori filled with roasted mawa, chopped nuts and a small amount of warm spices. It is finished with warm saffron sugar syrup poured in just before serving.
Servings 10 Kachori
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 300 g plain flour maida, about 2 1/2 cups
- 2 tablespoons ghee about 30 g
- A pinch of salt
- 120 to 140 ml water about 1/2 cup plus 1 to 2 tablespoons, added a little at a time
For the Mawa Filling:
- 200 g mawa khoya, about 1 cup crumbled
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ghee about 7 g
- 2 to 3 tablespoons chopped cashews almonds and pistachios, about 25 to 30 g
- 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons powdered sugar about 4 to 6 g
- 1/2 teaspoon spice mix below
For the Spice Mix:
- 3 to 4 green cardamom pods seeds only
- Seeds of 1/2 big cardamom pod badi elaichi
- 2 to 3 black peppercorns
- A 1 cm piece of cinnamon
- A small pinch of mace
- A small pinch of nutmeg
For the Sugar Syrup:
- 1 cup sugar about 200 g
- 1 cup water 240 ml
- A few saffron strands
- 2 to 3 cardamom pods lightly split (optional)
For Frying:
- Oil or ghee about 2 to 3 cups (500 to 700 ml) in a deep kadhai
Instructions
- Mix the flour, salt and 2 tablespoons ghee. Rub it between your hands until a fistful holds together like a laddu.
- Add the water a little at a time and knead into a very soft dough. Cover with an upturned vessel, not a cloth, and let it rest while you make the filling.
- Crush the peppercorns, cinnamon and mace. Add the green and black cardamom seeds and crush lightly. Mix in the nutmeg and keep the mix coarse.
- Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons ghee on medium heat and add the mawa. Stir all the time until it shrinks and starts to stick to the bottom of the pan.
- Turn off the heat. Stir in the chopped nuts and 1/2 teaspoon of the spice mix. Let it cool completely.
- Crush the cooled mawa with your hands into fine grains. Mix in the powdered sugar and divide into 10 portions.
- Boil the sugar and water with the saffron (and cardamom, if using) for 5 to 7 minutes, until sticky. No thread consistency is needed. Keep it warm.
- Knead the rested dough once more and divide into 10 medium balls. Shape the dough bowl thinner at the edges and slightly thicker at the base.
- Put a portion of filling in the middle. Fold the edges inward, pressing with your thumb, and seal completely.
- Heat the oil on medium heat. Test with a pinch of dough, which should give slow, small bubbles.
- Slide in 3 or 4 kachoris. Do not stir them with a spoon. Turn each gently by the edge and spoon hot oil over the top. Fry until puffed and crisp.
- Turn off the heat and let the oil cool a little before the next batch. Bring it back to medium and fry the rest.
- Make a small hole in the centre of each kachori. Pour the warm syrup inside and over the outside. Top with chopped nuts and serve.
Notes
Fried kachoris without syrup keep for 3 to 4 days in an airtight container.
Add the syrup only when serving.
The cooked and cooled filling keeps in the fridge for up to 10 days, or in the freezer for up to a month.
Keep the spice mix small. About 1/2 teaspoon is enough for 200 g of mawa.
If you cannot find mawa, make instant mawa from full-fat milk powder, ghee and a little milk.
Cook it until crumbly and cool it fully. Fry one kachori first to check the seal and the taste.