Winter and fast foods like green peas kachuri are inseparable

Winter arrives with an abundance of vegetables and most versatile among them are the farm fresh green peas – not the refrigerated ones that are available all throughout the year in shopping malls but lack the twang of the fresh ones. Research has revealed that the health benefits of green peas are many.
Anyway, green peas in Bengal are held in high esteem by all fast food lovers because expert cooks can transform these into tasty morsels and would have a tough time to avoid the continuous pestering by its lovers for more and more.
The transformation of green peas into kadai shutir kachuri is usually in one of two methods – in the first one, the peas are not mashed totally but left half smashed. In the second variety, the peas are mashed into a paste.
The green peas are fist shelled and then boiled. Depending on which variety is chosen, the boiled peas are either half mashed or made into a paste in a food processor – tiny slices of ginger and green chilies are added along with with sauf (fennel seeds) during the grinding operation, salt is added for taste.
This mixture is then slightly fried with garam masala powder and is ready for the next stage namely stuffing the mixture in the dough made of flour and converting them into flat, round chapati shaped ready-to-fry objects. The diameter should be approximately three inches and the kachuris are ready for frying.
For frying, add sufficient oil in the pan, heat id to boil and immerse the kachuris so that they sink to the bottom and again swell and rise. Turn them over till they acquire a brownish tinge remove from the pan. Place on a sieve to drain away any excess oil and the kachuri is ready to serve. Mustard sauce (kasundi) goes well with this preparation.
The other variety is with half mashed peas – in this case, the filling is made with ingredients as above. Only, the dough is made into balls and the half mashed peas are stuffed into the balls which are then deep fried in oil or ghee. These used to be a brand of Dwarik Ghosh of Shyambazar – the heavenly smell of the ghee would attract the customers from afar and, the quantities on offer would finish too quickly. Customers would have to return disappointed at times.
Incidentally, a ready-made variety of green peas kachuri has entered the market – it is a powder, supposedly of green peas with spices included, that is mixed with the dough, rolled into puri-like roundals, deep fried and served.