Kachori

Ingredients

Filling

• 800 gpotatoes, boiled and mashed
• 1onion, finely chopped
• 2green chillies, minced
• 1 tbspginger garlic paste
• 1 tspground cumin
• 1 tspground turmeric
• 1 handfulcoriander, chopped
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tspsalt

Batter

• 150 ggram flour
• 50 grice flour
• 1 tspground cumin
• ½ tspturmeric
• ¼ tspbicarbonate of soda
• about 200 ml water
• salt

To fry

• oil, for deep frying

To serve

• tamarind chutney
• coconut chutney
• chai

Directions

1. Boil the potatoes whole in their skins, then peel and mash them while warm.
2. Boil them whole and unpeeled. Cut and boiled they take on water, and wet mash will not hold a ball.
3. Mix the mash with the onion, chillies, ginger garlic paste, cumin, turmeric, coriander, lemon and salt, and taste it.
4. Season the filling harder than seems right. The batter coating is bland and it mutes everything inside it.
5. Roll the mixture into balls about the size of a golf ball and chill them for 20 minutes.
6. Chilling firms them enough to survive being dipped and dropped into hot oil.
7. Whisk the gram flour, rice flour, cumin, turmeric, bicarbonate and salt with enough water to make a batter that coats thickly.
8. The rice flour is what makes the shell crisp rather than soft, and gram flour alone gives a heavier, chewier coating.
9. The batter should be thick enough to cling in an even layer, roughly the consistency of double cream.
10. Heat the oil to 180°C (355°F).
11. Dip each ball in the batter, turning it to coat completely, and lower it into the oil.
12. Coat every part of the ball. Any bare patch takes in oil and the potato disintegrates into the pan.
13. Fry four or five at a time for 4 to 5 minutes, turning, until deep golden and crisp.
14. Drain on a rack rather than paper, which would steam the undersides soft.
15. Serve hot with tamarind and coconut chutney, and chai.
16. It came to Tanzania with South Asian communities on the coast and is now standard street and Iftar food in Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar.

Technique

• This is the East African coastal kachori, a battered potato ball, and it is not the same as the North Indian pastry-shelled kachori.
• It is closely related to the batata vada of Maharashtra, which is essentially the same thing.
• They are best within minutes of frying and go soft as they cool.

Substitutions

• Plain flour with a spoonful of cornflour in place of the gram and rice flours.
• Lime for lemon.

Variations

• With peas or lentils worked into the potato.
• Stuffed with a piece of cheese in the centre.
• Split into a bun as a bhajia sandwich.

History

Brought by Gujarati settlers to Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar, now sold at every evening snack stand.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kachori?

Kachori is a street food from Tanzania: spiced mashed potato balls coated in batter and deep-fried. Brought by Gujarati settlers to Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar, now sold at every evening snack stand.

How long does Kachori take to make?

Kachori takes 30 min of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes about 16. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Kachori?

Yes, within limits. Plain flour with a spoonful of cornflour in place of the gram and rice flours. Lime for lemon.

What is the most important thing to get right in Kachori?

The rice flour is what makes the shell crisp rather than soft, and gram flour alone gives a heavier, chewier coating.