Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Nippattu | Thattai : South Indian Crispy Snack Recipe


Nippattu is a deep fried Indian snack that is perfect for the coming Deepavali festival. You can prepare this couple of days in advance too. It stays fresh for up to 10 days.

Preparation Time: 20 mins
Cooking Time: 30 mins



Ingredients: (Makes about 30 nippattu)
Rice flour: 1 cup
Maida | AP flour: 1/2 cup
Chickpea flour | Besan: 1/2 cup
Roasted gram | Hurigadale | Putani: 2 tbsp
Roasted peanuts: 2 tbsp
Grated dry coconut: 1/2 cup
Sesame seeds: 1 tsp
Hing | Asafoetida: a big pinch
Red chili powder: 1 tsp, more or less
Salt: As needed
Hot oil or Vegetable shortening: 1 tbsp, refer notes
Water: As needed

Other ingredients:
Oil to deep fry the nippattu



Method:
Sieve the rice flour, maida and chickpea flour separately and keep them aside.
Roughly crush the roasted peanuts and putani (roasted gram). Keep them aside.
Take a mixing bowl. To that add rice flour, maida, chickpea flour, salt, hing, chili powder and vegetable shortening.

Mix until the shortening is incorporated in the flours. The flours should be slightly crumbly.
To this, add the grated dry coconut, sesame seeds, crushed peanuts and roasted gram. Mix again.

Add little water at a time to make a soft and yet not sticky dough. Refer note # 2 below.

Grease an aluminium foil or parchment paper.
Make marble sized balls out of the dough.
Flatten the dough on the greased foil. I made about 2 inch circles. Do not make it too thin.

Heat oil in a wok. When oil is hot, drop 2-3 nippattus (depending on the oil used) at a time & deep fry it on a medium heat until they turn golden in color.

Drain the fried nippattu on a kitchen towel & allow it to cool.

Repeat the procedure of flattening and deep frying until you finish the dough.
Once cool completely, store them in air tight containers.



Notes:
  1. I used Crisco Vegetable Shortening (similar to Vanaspati or Dalda). You could use hot oil instead of vegetable shortening. If using hot oil, add about 1.5 tbsp. 
  2. If you are making the nippattu in big batches, divide the mixed flour into 2-3 equal parts. Add water to one portion at a time and make the dough. You should not let the dough rest for a long time. Hence, dividing the flour and making dough helps. 
  3. I repeat. Do not flatten the nippattu too much. It should be the thickness of a cracker or marie biscuit.

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