Radhaballavi is a Bengali kachori recipe where the stuffing is made of white lentils or urad dal, khoya and a couple of spices. This is a Bengali dal puri recipe, often reserved for special occasions where it gets served with Aloo Dum and/or Cholar Dal.
Preparation of the filling of Radhaballavi Kachori needs some care and a bit of elbow grease. With proper recipe instructions, you will make these Radhaballavis, perfectly and with no effort, every time. In this post, you will find the step-by-step video guide to make this Bengali kochuris.
Radhballavi is one of those recipes where there isn’t any shortcut to it. The urad dal or white lentil has to be soaked and then ground into a fine paste before frying it with khowa or milk solids and spices, till it becomes dry and has minimum moisture in it. Once it cools down, a small portion is wrapped with dough, which is then rolled into kachoris and deep-fried.
Each and every step to this recipe needs a bit of care, which ensures that the radhaballabhis turn out perfectly puffed up and delicious.
Let’s have a quick look at the list of ingredients we need to make Radhaballabi Kachoris.
How to make Radhaballavi- Bengali Dal Kochuri – Ingredients list
- Urad Dal (Split or Dhuli) – washed and soaked overnight
- Fennel Seeds or Saunf/Mouri
- Nigella Seeds or Kalonji/Kalo Jeere
- Hing or Asafoetida
- Green Chilli
- Salt & Sugar
- Khowa or Milk Solids – alternate would be Powdered Milk
- Mustard Oil
- Ginger
- All-purpose Flour
- Ghee or Vanaspati Ghee (plant-based fat) for moyen* – alternate would be refined Sunflower Oil
- Refined Sunflower Oil to fry
Moyen – Moyen means adding fat to the flour while making dough to create layers of crispiness. The fat is added to the flour at first and rubbed into it, and then the dough is made with the addition of water or any other liquid. Over several trials, I have found that vanaspati ghee is the best for this purpose, even better than normal ghee. But it is totally OK to replace vanaspati in this recipe with ghee or oil or your choice.
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What to serve with Radhaballavi? Side dish ideas for Bengali Dal Puri
Bengali kochuri recipes usually mention Bengali niramish Alur Dom or Cholar Dal as side-dishes. The alu dum is a spicy potato curry, which is often cooked with a tomato-ginger gravy. It makes a great side dish option to these Bengali dal puris as the heat and spice level balances the mild sweetness of the Radhaballavis.
For those who are looking for a no-frills meal, they can go for the Radhaballavi & Cholar Dal combination. It is light and goes slow in terms of heat & spices.
Make-ahead or Freezing Option for Radhaballavi
You can easily make the filling ahead and cool it down before storing it in an air-tight container in your fridge. It stays very well for almost a fortnight. In case you wish to use a portion of it, take some of it out and allow it to reach the room temperature. Keep the rest in the fridge.
Since it takes some effort to prepare the filling, I often make a double batch of it. While I use half of it the same day, I keep the rest of it for some other time over the next few days.
A couple of more Bengali Kachori or Kochuri recipes
Have you tried this recipe? I would love to hear about it.
Tag me on Instagram @priyankabhattacharya.sa or Facebook @hashdiaries and I will share it further.
Radhaballavi is a Bengali kachori recipe where the stuffing is made of white lentils or urad dal, khoya and a couple of spices. This is a Bengali dal puri recipe, often reserved for special occasions where it gets served with Aloo Dum and/or Cholar Dal.
- 3 cups All Purpose Flour
- 1½ cup Water
- 2 tbsp Ghee or Clarified Butter
- A Pinch of Salt
- ½ cup Urad Dal or White Lentil Soaked overnight
- 50 gms Khowa or Milk Solids
- A pinch of Hing or Asafoetida
- ½ tsp Nigella Seeds or Kalo Jeere or Kalonji
- 1 inch Ginger
- 2 Green Chilies
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- Salt to Taste
- 1 tsp Fennel Seeds or Saunf or Mouri
- 3 tbsp Mustard Oil
- Refined Oil/Ghee to fry the kochuri
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Knead the dough using the ingredients as mentioned for it. Be cautious about the amount of water. It should be soft and pliable.
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Wash the soaked dal and grind it into a fine paste with ginger and green chilies
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Heat mustard oil in a non-stick pan. Temper it with hing and nigella seeds
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Add the ground dal paste and fry.
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Add sugar, salt and the khowa. Give it a mix.
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Crush the fennel seeds coarsely and add it to the fried mix. Cook it till you see the dal coming together in a lump.
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Turn off the heat and allow this to cool completely.
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Pinch off small balls of the dough and flatten them between your palms. Keep the centre thick while pressing the edges thinner.
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Take a teaspoonful of the filling and keep it at the center of the flatten dough ball. Gather the edges together and pinch them so that the filling is neatly tucked in.
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Now, roll it into a flat disc and deep fry it. Repeat it with the rest of the dough and filling till you get your kochuris.
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