Lilva Kachori

Lilva Kachori Recipe – This is traditional Gujarati farsan where stuffing is made from fresh tuvar lilva dana aka green pigeon peas. This is the perfect snack for winter and monsoon season.

The outer layer of these kachoris is crispy yet flaky. Here I have used mixture of whole wheat flour and all purpose flour. But traditionally only all purpose flour is used.

The stuffing has full flavor of lilva along with slight nutty taste from peanuts and sesame seeds. Also the balanced flavor of sweet and tangy comes from sugar and lemon juice. For the spicy flavor only green chilies are used, so adjust them accordingly as per your liking.

During the winter season, fresh tuvar is easily available in the market. Here in USA I rarely get fresh one. But frozen packets of tuvar lilva are easily available.

If you have less quantity of tuvar lilva on hand then you can adjust the quantity by adding green peas. Other than making lilva kachori, I do use these fresh tuvar dana in making vaghareli khichdi or ringan dana nu shaak. Or occasionally I make stuffed paratha.

Step By Step Photo Instructions:

1) Take fresh tuvar dana aka lilva, ginger, green chilies and peanuts in a food processor jar.

2) Grind it coarsely. Instead you can use mixer grinder and pulse it to get coarse texture. Make sure not to grind completely because we do not want paste.

3) Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot add mustard seeds and let them pop.

4) Then add sesame seeds and within few seconds they will start to pop.

5) Now add coarsely ground lilva mixture and salt.

6) Mix, cover and cook with stirring occasionally.

7) Cook for around 7-8 minutes or till lilva gets cooked. Also the mixture has no more moisture and becomes dry.

8) Now add sugar, garam masala, cashews and coriander leaves.

9) Mix well and cook for a minute and turn off the stove.

10) Lastly squeeze the lemon or lime juice and mix well. Let the stuffing mixture cool down completely.

11) While it is cooling, let’s make the dough for outer covering. Take both flours (all purpose flour and whole wheat flour), sugar and salt in a bowl.

12) Mix well.

13) Drizzle oil.

14) Using your fingertips mix the oil and flour very well till everything is incorporated well.

15) Now add little water at a time and knead into smooth and semi-soft dough. Cover and let it rest for 15-20 minutes.

16) Now dough has been rested for enough time and stuffing is also cooled down. Let’s start making tuvar dana kachori. Knead the dough again to make it smooth and divide it into 12 equal portions. Make smooth balls and flatten them between your palm one by one.

17) Take one flatten disc at a time and roll into 3-4 inch diameter circle.

18) Put around 2-3 tablespoons of stuffing in the center.

19) Make the pleats and gather them in the center. Pinch it to seal it tightly. Repeat the same and shape the rest of them.

20) When about to finish shaping, heat the oil in a pan or kadai for frying on medium heat. Oil should be just hot (Not too hot like we do for pakora otherwise kachoris will have tiny bubble on the surface). Once hot slide few kachori carefully into the oil.

21) Fry them till they are crispy and golden brown from all the sides. Adjust the gas heat as needed to maintain the oil temperature throughout the frying process.

22) Once ready remove them using slotted spatula and keep them on paper towel lined plate. Similarly fry rest of them.

Enjoy them hot or warm. They taste good even if they get cool down.

Serving suggestion: Serve these lilva kachori with green chutney and tamarind date chutney as a farsan along with meal or as a snack/starter. It can be eaten with a cup of tea or coffee.

Did you try this lilva kachori recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Leave a review in the comment section below.