Mathri and Nimki's

Crispy, flaky and superbly flavoured deep fried 'mathris' or 'mathis', which is a north indian snack, are our favourite evening snacks with tea. Everytime its not possible to cook some snacks in the evening , so these are my life savers at that time. Even we can munch them in between any time of the day. And its smaller version , with a nice diamond shape(namely nimki's or namkin paree), attracts my kids a lot, a nice finger food for them.

This salty 'anytime snack' are eaten best with any pickle and are often served with tea.

Large mathris - known as mathi's - are pinched on their surface with floral and other intricate designs and they are a 'must' for all Rajasthani occasions including marriages, poojas etc.
They are actually unsalted and bigger in size, versions of mathris, photo courtsey, tarla dalal's site.


In about every month or a two, i make them ,and they last only about 4 5 days.. :)

Ingredients:

2 cups All Purpose flour( maida)
1/2 tsp ajwain
4 Tbsp oil
3/4 cup lukewarm water
Oil to fry
salt to taste,about 1 tsp

Method :

Mix flour,ajwain and salt. Add oil and rub the flour between your palms until it takes the form of breadcrumbs,so that the oil coats all the flour nicely(This makes Mathri's crispier)
Add the lukewarm water a little at a time, kneading into a firm dough. Cover and set aside for a atleast 20 minutes.

Make small flat balls of lime size out of the dough . Roll them into 2 inch wide circles. Prick each mathri with a fork or khief in 5 to 6 places on both sides, so the mathris do not puff when frying. Keep them aside for drying on a newspaper or kitchen towels for atleast 1 hour,flipping it once in between.

Using the same dough,take a big ball out of it and roll it into big and thick (about 2 mm) roti's. Cut it into diamond shape with a knief and dry them too along with mathris.

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Fry a few matris at a time. Make sure that the oil is not very hot.It takes about 5 7 minutes to fry about 10 12 matris in one go. Fry the mathris until both sides are a light golden brown.
Cool before storing,can be stored for about a month in airtight containers.

Tips:

If the mathris are cooked on high heat, they turn dark brown and will become soft. So be patient.
Add more oil while kneading dough ,to make them more crispier.
You can also add fenugreek leaves and peppercorns to it,to make them as of Haldirams.

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Sending this to Sunday snacks: Grab n go at All Thingz Yummy

Posted by Neha

Labels: dry snacks