Namak Pare

Namak  Pare

A deep fried evening snack  in North Indian cuisine !!

Makes: 140 - 150 g

Ingredients

Please use same measuring cup to measure flour and water.

1 cup  / 200 ml maida / all purpose flour (Indian standard measuring cup of 200 ml / 8 oz capacity)

1 teaspoon ghee

¾ to 1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ajwain

½ teaspoon pepper powder

Water for kneading ( between ¼ - 1/2 cup )

Extra ¼ cup flour

Cooking oil for frying (300 ml)

Method

In a wide bowl, mix maida , salt, ghee,  ajawain  and pepper powder. Mix well  with finger tips until it well combined with ghee. Do not use tablespoon for mixing.  Add water (first start with ¼ cup water. Later adjust with 1 – 3 tablespoon water and make stiff dough. Dough should not be soft like chapatti dough. It should be a stiff dough. Otherwise namak pares won’t be crisp) and make a stiff dough. Do not keep maida dough too long. Deep fry immediately.

Divide the dough into 3 parts and make lemon sized balls.  Make chapatti (slightly thicker than normal chapatti) using dry maida. Cut it into 1 - inch width strips. You can make 5 long strips from 1 chapati. Then cut 1 - inch diamond shape pieces from each strips.

Heat oil in a kadai on high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and wait for 1 minute. Fry  namak pares in batches  (depending upon the size the kadai / frying pan) till golden brown on both the sides. Do not fry on high heat.  Drain out from oil and spread it on a kitchen paper for some time to absorb extra oil and store in an airtight container. It’ll last for more than a week. It’s a tasty tea time snack and kids ‘ll love it and also a perfect snack for Diwali.