Moong Daal Khasta

Ingredients

For The Dough:
Maida / Plain flour                          -2 cups
Melted Ghee                                    -1/4 cup
Salt                                                  -1/2 tblspoon

For The Filling:
Yellow moong dal                          -1/2 cup (split yellow gram) , soaked for at least 5 hours
Cumin seeds (jeera)                        -1 tspoon
Fennel Seeds (Saunf)                      -1 tspoon
Coriander seeds (Dhaniya)             -1 tspoon
Asafoetida (hing)                            -1/4 tspoon
Red Chilli powder                          -1 tspoon
Garam masala                                -1 tspoon
Dried mango powder (amchur)     -1 tspoon
Coriander Powder (Dhaniya)        -1 tspoon
Besan (bengal gram flour)             -2 tblspoon
Oil                                                  -2 tblspoon + for deep frying
Salt                                                -to taste


Method:

For the dough :

Combine all the ingredients and knead into a semi-soft dough using enough water.
Knead very well for 5 to 7 minutes.
Divide the dough into 12 equal parts and keep covered under a wet muslin cloth.

For the filling:

Drain the soaked moong dal. Heat the oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds, Fennel seeds, coriander seeds and asafoetida.
When the seeds start to crackle, add the drained moong dal and sauté for a few seconds.
Now the dry masalas chilli powder, garam masala, amchur powder, dhaniya powder, gram flour and salt and stir for 8 to 10 minutes till the masalas are cooked.
Cool and divide into 12 equal portions. Shape each portion into an even sized round peda or you can keep it without rolling.
Now Roll out each portion of the dough into a 2" diameter circle.
Place one peda or 2 tblspoon of the filling mixture in the centre of the rolled dough circle.
Pinch the dough by slowly stretching it over the filling mixture.
Seal the ends tightly and remove any excess dough.
Roll each filled portion into a 2 1/2"/3" diameter circle taking care to ensure that the filling does not burst out.
Gently press the centre of the Khasta with your thumb.
Repeat with the remaining dough and filling to make all other Khasta.
Deep fry the Khastas in hot oil over a slow flame till golden brown on both sides.
The khastas will puff up like puris.
These take a bit of long time to fry as the crust is thick and needs to be cooked from the inside as well.
take them out on a paper towel to remove excess oil and serve with chutneys and ginger tea.
You can keep them for a week or so in an air-tight container.