Mathri (Salted Crackers)

mathri

Yesterday I was craving for some home made savory snack with my evening tea. I remembered mathri which I was pretty good at making even before marriage. My hubby had asked me to make mathri several times but I was worried about the calories as it is a deep fried snack. Yesterday I thought what the heck! Don’t I eat other high calorie stuff bought from the market? So I went ahead.

Recipe of mathri (mathi)

2 cups maida ( all purpose flour)

1 tsp salt or to taste

1 tsp ajwain (carom seeds)

2 tbsp oil

Oil for deep frying

1. In a bowl, mix maida, salt and ajwain. Add 2 tablespoon oil and rub mixture between your hands so that oil is evenly mixed in the all purpose flour.

2. Add water little by little so as to knead it into stiff dough. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes.

3. Take walnut (akhrot) sized balls from the dough and roll out into a small rounds. Mark these rounds here and there with a fork so that mathris don't puff up like poori.

4. Heat oil in a kadhai (wok) or a deep frying pan and when the oil is hot enough, turn the heat to medium. Wait for 2 minutes. Fry mathri in the oil turning as needed.

5. When the mathri give a cooked look, increase heat so that they become reddish brown. For further batches, keep the heat to medium when frying and increase for the final touch. Drain on an absorbent paper by a slotted spoon. Serve when they cool down and store the rest in an airtight contianer. Mathri stay fresh for weeks.