Vegan Kachori Pinwheels

These savory vegan Kachori Pinwheels are the perfect bite-sized snack for your Indian party! Savory puff pastry filled with a boldly spiced lentil (moong dal) filling. Nutfree Soyfree recipe. Gluten-free option.

Everyone loves samosas – they are easily available and what’s not to love about a flaky crispy pastry filled with spiced potato goodness?! Kachori is another Indian street food classic that you might not be as familiar with. Just like a samosa, it is a deep-fried, crisp, and flaky round Indian pastry stuffed with delicious lentil filling. Fillings can vary from spiced lentils, spiced peas, potatoes, just spices, nuts spices and raisins etc.

Both samosas and kachoris have a similar pastry dough. The difference is more in the shape. While samosas look like a pyramid, kachoris look like flattened discs. Samosas are filled with spiced potatoes. Daal kachoris are filled with lentils cooked with almost an equal amount of spices.

Kachori used to be my favorite post school snack(occasional fried goodies), so I wanted to find a quick and easy option that has all the flavor of this delicious Indian street food!

Enter kachori pinwheels!. To make the process of preparing these vegan pinwheels at home easier we are resorting to using store-bought puff pastry. Make this delicious filling. Spread on rolled out puff pastry then slice and roll into pinwheels. You can also make them into small hand pastries with the filling if you don’t want pinwheels. Try these this festive Diwali season.

More Indian Snacks:

Chickpea Kathi Rolls – Chickpea Chutney Wraps

Baked Moong Dal Samosas and 12 Vegan Holi Recipes. Glutenfree Soyfree Options

Vegan Samosa Pie

Chickpea Aloo Chaat Bowl with Date Tamarind Chutney

Samosa Pinwheels Spiced Potato Pinwheels

Recipe Card

Ingredients:

• for the filling, we use moong dal or urad dal which we need to soak overnight to be able to blend them
• whole spices: a fragrant blend of fennel seeds and coriander seeds
• ground spices: garam masala, Kashmiri chili powder, cayenne or Indian red chili powder, ground coriander, turmeric, garlic powder
• fresh ingredients: minced ginger,  green chili, and cilantro, chopped
• vegan puff pastry – puff pastry is traditionally made using butter but many brands like pepperidge farm are vegan

Tips

• Be sure to use a double sheet so that the filling doesn’t burn at the bottom.
• Make thinner and smaller vegan pinwheels so that you don’t have to bake them too long. Longer bake time can dry out or crisp up the filling. To avoid too crisped filling, use thicker baking sheet or a ceramic baking dish
• You can also use this filling to make rectangle puffs instead. Instead of pinwheels you can cut up rolled-up puff pastry sheets into 3×5 inch rectangles then place the filling on one side of the rectangle. Use water to put water along the edges of the rectangles and then seal it so that It’s like a pizza pocket and bake. Or make a larger pie like my samosa pie. 

How to make Vegan Kachori Pinwheels:

Drain the soaking dal(lentils). Add to blender or food processor and process until the mixture is a coarsely blended textured mixture but not entirely smooth. See pictures. Set aside.

In a spice grinder or a blender with a grinder blade, add the fennel seeds and coriander seeds and blend until they are a meal(not a fine powder)

In a skillet, add oil and heat over medium heat. Once the oil is hot add the ground-up fennel seeds and coriander seeds and cook until the mixture is starting to get fragrant.

Depending on your stove, or pan this might take 15-30 seconds, then add in the rest of the ground spices and mix in.

Add in the ginger and garlic and green chili and cook for a few seconds

Then add in your mashed up moong dal, salt, and cilantro and mix really well. Press and mix in so that all the spices and dal are mixed in really well. Cook for 3-5 minutes until the mixture is starting to dry and dal is starting to get roasted

Add in ¼ cup of water and continue to cook for another 1-2 minutes until water is somewhat incorporated in the mixture. So that it’s not entirely dried out.

Taste and adjust salt. Cook a few minutes longer splashing in water if needed if you can taste the raw flavor of the lentils. Then take off heat and let it cool.

If you haven’t thawed your pastry, let it sit on the counter for 15-20 minutes. Then Roll it out into an 11×13 inch or similarly sized rectangle.

Once the filling is cooled down to room temperature, spread it on the rolled out pastry sheet. Leave ½ inch on the sides so that it’s easy to roll the pinwheels.

Roll up pastry from the long side until evenly rolled. Use some water on edges and then seal it.

Use a sharp serrated knife to slice the pinwheels into about ½ to ¾ inch thick slices. Place the pinwheels on a parchment-lined baking sheet (use a double layer of parchment sheets) or use a thick stoneware baking dish.

Brush the tops with a little bit of water or non-dairy milk. Bake at 400ºF (205ºC) for 17-19 minutes or until golden.

Check if the centers of the pinwheels puff pastry are cooked. If not you’ll want to bake them for another 2 minutes or so then remove them from the oven.

Let them sit for a few minutes then serve immediately as is or with some tamarind chutney or mango chutney.