Masala Khakra

Khakra is the Gujarati tea time favourite snack.It consists of crispy cooked wheat flour dough over a tawa (griddle).It is toasted to a crispy deliciousness and stored in airtight containers so that it stays that way!In the State of Gujarat it is bought out at teatime over cups of steaming tea (mostly masala chai as Gujaratis lean more towards the items with “more masala” – and which is why they are so awesome themselves) and had with a lot of crunching,munching and slurping.Alongside that come crispy Fafdas,Jalebi and Farsan and then there are cheers to a memorable evening with gossip and laughter!

The Shhhhh Secretly Cooking Challenge group had themed March as cuisine from the State of Gujarat and I was teamed with the very lovely and versatile Sujata Roy who blogs at Batter Up With Sujata to exchange two special ingredients.Sujata gave me Whole wheat flour (atta) and gram flour/garbanzo bean flour (besan) while I gave her Sesame and Carrot with which she made a delicious Handvo.

You can check her recipe here :

https://batterupwithsujata.wordpress.com/2018/03/23/handvo/

I will never forget the lovely conversation we had!It was the festival Holi and I pinged her early morning!We had a lovely time chatting and exchanging details about each other!After Holi when after binging on special calorific delights I remembered to eat healthy and dutifully put away the container of Mathri my neighbour had given me and started making these delicious Khakras!The dough needs only one teaspoon oil and no extra required for toasting and crisping the Khakra.

It tastes absolutely delicious with a cup of hot tea!I prepare a salad of Onion,Tomato and Cucumber plus my very delicious Garlic Greens Chutney to go with it!I also put salted Green Chillies as a side!Omit this if you cannot tolerate spice!

The Salad….

You can use Coriander Chutney or even Tomato Chutney if you like.You can crush it over chaats,over Dahi Wada or even use it as a papad with your daily meals!

Khakra…

Preparation Time : 30 minutes

Makes : 7 – 8 Khakra

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup whole wheat flour (atta) plus for rolling

1 tbsp Gram Flour/Garbanzo Beans Flour (besan)

1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)

1/2 tsp red Chilli powder

1/2 tsp Coriander Powder (dhania)

1/4 tsp roasted cumin powder(jeera)

1/4 tsp Asafoetida (Heeng) powder

1 tsp oil

Milk as required

METHOD 

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.Mix with fingertips to ensure the oil is uniformly amalgamated.Add milk 1 tbsp at a time kneading well till you get a smooth and soft dough like the one for Roti.

Keep it covered for 20 minutes till the starch swells out the dough and it becomes soft and pliable.

Heat a tawa/griddle on medium heat 5 minutes before you begin making the Khakras.

Knead the dough again and divide it into 7 – 8 equal balls.Flatten them and roll them in whole wheat flour.Flour the surface on which you will roll out the balls.Roll them into paper thin rounds of approximately 6 inches each.They will be paper thin and fragile so flour the surface very well.

Lowe the heat and put the Khakra on the tawa.It will cook from one side and develop bubbles and now turn it to the other side.Now flip it back again and with a kitchen towel start turning the Khakra on the hot tawa.It will develop spots and dry up to a very crispy consistency.The cloth is absorbing the excess moisture and the heat from the tawa making it crisp.Turn over and toast the other side to a crispy texture.Remove and let it cool on a plate.

Make all the Khakras this way.Do not keep the hot Kakras one on top of the other as water will condense on them and they will become soft.Let them come to room temperature and immediately store them in an airtight container.

Serve as needed with tea or however you want!

Served with hot Tea,salad and Garlic Greens Chutney….