- This was like a delicacy when I was a kid.

Eating this one ball was my dream on Monday.

(soft rock music) - Jyotiee, what are we making today?

- We are making Batata Kachori.

It's like a pastry stuffed with coconut filling in it.

- What is the first step into making this?

- We need to first grate these potatoes.

We are making the dough out of batata, it's a potato.

That's a portuguese word, they bring Potato in India.

It's not really Indian word but we use that very commonly.

I prefer to do this quick way instead of mashing with hands.

- Sometimes when you're making dough out of potato you're mashing with hand, you over work it and then it gets real tough.

- Then flour.

Tapioca flour is very common in India.

We normally use that for binding agent.

- In Hmong food we use a lot of tapioca flour too.

- Oh really?

- [Yia Vang] Tapioca starch, yeah.

- Oh, nice.

Batata Kachori comes from my city.

- [Yia Vang] I would love to hear more about Pune.

- [Jyotiee] I grew up in Pune which is very close to Mumbai.

It's a cultural hub for my state, Maharashtra.

It's the biggest software industry in India right now.

In Pune there is a balance.

It's modern and tradition.

This dough is good.

Next we are doing the filling.

We need to chop some dates and cashews.

The date is like my version of it.

In original recipe we normally get raisins.

- When you first learned how to do this was there a recipe or was it just by doing it, by feel?

- My dad used to make this.

He used to make all these delicious recipes and I used to watch him.

If you name it, like I want to eat this he will make sure and try for you.

As I grew up I started thinking maybe that was his way of expressing love because like many other Indian parents my parents are not expressive.

They will not say, "I love you."

No, you never heard that in Indian household.

It's taken for granted, like you love each other.

But he used to show that from his food.

Then we had a lot of street vendors around my house.

I used to roam around and watch them and go there for free food.

Because if cute kid is watching you they give you food.

- They give you a little something, yeah.

- That's how I learn, I watched and learned.

Our mixture is ready.

- I'm a little nervous because I'm not really good with pastry.

- First thing is just take some oil in your hand.

It's going to be sticky and it will be okay.

Take a small lemon sized ball.

- [Yia Vang] It's almost like Play-Doh.

- Yeah (laughs).

Then slowly press it down to make a small bowl.

You're doing good.

- [Yia Vang] I've made a lot of dumplings with my mom.

But you're so right, the dough is so light.

- We are going to place our filling, which is maybe one spoon or two, push it down so it stays in place and slowly start closing the opening.

Then just pinch it little bit.

If you have too much oil it's not going to pinch and close.

The trick is not to get it break because the filling is dry.

If it comes out in oil it's going to spoil the whole thing.

- [Yia Vang] Oh, come on.

I was getting too cocky.

- You have to go slow.

Lightly roll it like that and then roll it in tapioca flour to give a little texture to it.

- [Yia Vang] Like extra crunch on the outside.

- Correct.

Then you keep it here.

- [Yia Vang] Looks simple enough.

(Jyotiee laughs) - This Kachori is fasting food in India.

- [Yia Vang] What do you mean by that?

- It sounds really weird when you say fasting food because you are fasting, why you need food?

Each day of week is assigned to a God so people worship that particular God and they will do fasting that day.

They will not eat technically food but they can eat this.

How this is acceptable as a fasting, I do not know that.

I ask those question to many people, nobody knows that.

But this is how we grew up eating.

When it's fasting, kids are happy because you get all this tasty food.

We are ready to fry and then eat.

You have to make sure oil is not extreme hot, it will just burn down the potato quickly.

It's like medium to high.

Another secret is not to touch the ball until it gives a coating around, otherwise they break very easily.

- How long do you fry these?

- Until you see a light golden shade on it and then they are done.

There is nothing to cook here.

It's just making the cover crispy a little bit and get that nice bite into it.

- [Yia Vang] Okay.

- [Jyotiee] I'm going to eat all of these.

They are very light.

- [Yia Vang] It's health food.

It's plant based.

This looks delicious.

- Here we go, let's dig in.

- They're so delicate, they're so light.

Before you were saying how they're so light.

- [Jyotiee] Yeah.

As I'm eating this and I'm thinking about the flavors, I can taste the heat from the chilies, but then the cumin comes in, the sweetness from the coconut and the date, the little bit of acid from the lime.

Everything's on there.

- You can eat, at least I can eat six, seven at a time.

- Definitely.

- [Jyotiee] That's easy.

Main influence was my dad, my family's, and another influence was those street vendors.

Now I'm doing this here, getting my food out there so people know where I come from, where my food is coming from.

It gives me happiness to share that with people around me here.

- This and dumplings and pot stickers, they're so easy to eat but the problem is it takes forever to make them sometimes.