The Thattai is to TamilNadu what Mathri is to Punjab and Delhi. While the Mathri is never spicy and usually a little soft, Thattai is super crispy. Also the Mathri is made with wheat flour while the Thattai is made with Rice flour I don’t like the store bought Thattai because its too oily. I have never tried making it at home frequently. The last few times that I tried it, the results were not very satisfactory ! So I just let Amma make her Ribbon Pakoda for every festival as the savoury.
To satisfy my Thattai cravings I would buy from Adyar Ananda Bhavan in Delhi or whenever we visited Chennai.
This Diwali, I decided to make a few savoury items besides the standard Ribbon Pakoda. I wanted to make the Thattai. The first day, Amma and I tried making the Thenguzhal (thick sev, but made with Rice Flour and crispy) and that didn’t work very well as it split into smaller pieces. I had used too much of butter and oil. I started searching for a good Thattai recipe and found my favourite website Raks Kitchen.
I took the measurements exactly from her recipe and the Thattais turned out absolutely yum. They were crispy and had no residual oil. Infact Amma liked them so much that she asked me to make it again for Karthigai.
Some tips from me –
- I used the Nirapara brand of Idiappam flour. Its truly outstanding quality.
- I used butter paper or parchment paper that you use for baking as the base to make the Thattais. Its easier to lift the paper up and remove the piece that has been made.
- Flatten the ball of dough with your palm rather than your fingers.
- The consistency of the dough must be soft and non-sticky.
- Use a bit of oil when you flatten the dough ball.
- The dough has to remain moist, so keep it covered. If it feels a little dry you can sprinkle some water to make it moist.
This is a super easy snack and just perfect for the Winters. Slightly amp the red chilli powder to make it spicier :).