Karasev | Gathiya Recipe

I always end up cooking at the last minute for the festivals. For the first time, I am preparing savories for Deepavali in advance! When compared to other deep fried savories, this one is a pretty simple & less tedious snack.This is sure to be liked by one & all.

Preparation Time: 5 mins 
Cooking Time:  15 mins

Ingredients:

• Gram flour/Besan/Kadle hittu: 1 cup, heaped
• Rice flour: 1/2 cup, leveled (refer notes)
• Daliya/putani/chutney dal powder: 2 tbsp (refer notes)
• Softened butter: 1.5 tbsp, at room temperature (refer notes)
• Salt: As needed
• Turmeric powder: 1/4th tsp
• Red chilli powder: 1/2 tsp
• Crushed pepper: 1/2 tsp
• Carom seeds/Ajwain/Omkalu: a big pinch
• Water : As needed ( I needed 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon water)
• Oil: For deep frying

Method:
Sieve the gram flour & putani powder.
Add in the gram flour,  rice flour, putani powder, salt, turmeric powder, crushed pepper, red chilli powder, carom seeds to a broad mixing bowl.

Throw in the softened butter to the mixture & mix it thoroughly. After mixing in the butter, if you take couple of tablespoons of the mixture & make a fist, it should hold its shape (see picture below). This is very crucial as it makes the karasev crisp & crunchy.

Heat sufficient oil in a wok/kadai.
Add few tablespoons of water at a time to the flour mixture & make a smooth dough. Gently knead. It should not be very sticky.

Scoop the dough onto the murukku maker (Use a multi eyed karasev plate).
When oil is hot enough, carefully press the dough on the hot oil directly in circular motion (around 5 inches in diameter. Mainly depends on the size of the kadai/wok being used). Remember to fry the karasev on a medium heat. Remove the sev from oil, when it is golden brown & the bubbles in the oil subside.

Drain & cool it on a paper towel.

Repeat the above steps with the remaining dough.
Once the karasev is cool, crush them gently & store it in a air tight containers. The karasev is good for atleast 7-10 days.

Notes:

• If using salted butter, adjust the salt level accordingly. 
• It is better to use the butter at room temperature. 
• Use a finer version of the rice flour.
• Pulse the putani/chutney dal in a food processor/blender for a couple of minutes to get a fine powder. Sieve the powder couple of times before using it.
• Fry the karasev on a medium heat. Remove them from oil just before they turn golden brown. Even after removing them from oil, they slightly change their color because of the heat.