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Prep time
25 hours
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Cook time
20 hours
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Makes
4-6
Author Notes
Whenever we have season of fresh peas, and fresh green pigeon peas known as "Toovar" , my mom would get into kitchen and she would make these as often as possible before the fresh peas go out of sight. It is a labor intensive work to make these seriously. Never with my mom. First peel the pods of toovar and peas and then folding them. I thought I would never be making them like an Empanada due to the repulge design. But it is so easy once you have grip on them. In India, we don't get frozen stuff so easily, although the time has changed so we do find it now. But, I remember my mom would freeze the peas by herself after blanching them. Then we would have the "Kachori" which is quite similar to Empanadas. kachori is a deep fried snack stuff filled with a mixture of peas, toovar with some seasoning and cashews, sultanas and pomegranate seeds. It is one of the best dishes of my mom. We don't usually make them so big like Empanadas are usually, nor do we bake them. Lot of versions would be round in shape or sometimes as mom-in -law makes in samosa style. The stuffing is almost the same. I have utilized the fresh chickpeas available now along with peas. Serve it with mango chutney or citrusy mango butter by Hillarybee. —Devangi Raval
Ingredients
- Dough
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2 1/2 cups
Flour (You can use either AP Flour or whole wheat , I used both 1 1/2 C whole wheat & 1 cup AP Flour)
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6 to 8 tablespoons
Cold Unsalted butter
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Salt to taste
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1 teaspoon
Sugar
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1/3 cup
ice cold water
- Fresh green Chickpeas and Peas Mixture
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1 cup
Fresh green chickpeas
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1 cup
Fresh Peas
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3 tablespoons
Pomegranate arils
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2 to 3 tablespoons
Cashew nuts
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2 to 3 teaspoons
Sultanas
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1 tablespoon
Sesame seeds
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1/2 tablespoon
Green chili paste
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1/2 tablespoon
Ginger paste
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1 teaspoon
Sugar
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1 /2 tablespoons
Lemon juice
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3 tablespoons
Grated fresh coconut
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2 teaspoons
Garam Masala, use less if you do not like spicy
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Salt to taste
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2 tablespoons
Oil
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2
Cloves of garlic
Directions
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For the Chickpea and Pea Mixture - Take the green chickpeas, peas and coconut and pulse it coarsely in your food processor. Please do not over mix it. It should grainy and coarse mix. Mix all the ingredients into this mixture, leaving aside the lemon juice.
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Heat a pot or deep pan with oil on medium heat and add this mixture into it once the oil is hot.
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Let the mixture get cooked for about 5 to 7 minutes and let everything mix well with each other. Once you see the mixture has lost the water content, do not leave it to longer or it will be a very dry filling. switch off the stove and add in the lemon juicea nd mix it well.Leave the mixture to cool a little bit.
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Meanwhile the filling is getting cool, we will start forming the empanada. Divide the dough into equal parts. Roll out the dough into 5' in circles and approx 1/8 inch thick.
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Spoon the filling about 1 tbsp on each of these circles and fold it in half moon/circle and press the edges to seal. Once the edges are sealed then, starting from one end, pull the dough just a little and fold it towards the filled bumpy side for design. You can also use fork to make the pattern. Probably you can watch some videos on youtube to get more idea for this step.
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Once all the Empanadas are folded and shaped. PreHeat oven to 400 F. Line them on the baking sheet and bake them for about 20 to 25 minutes. If you plan to make a big batch and freeze them then, please freeze them before baking them. And, whenever you are ready to bake them , simply defrost them and bake them.
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Serve them hot with mango chutney or tamarind chutney.
* if you are not making these with fresh green chickpea and peas, then toovar is available in the frozen section of Indian grocery stores.
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