As I mentioned in my last post Making Thattai & Remembering my Mother-in-Law, I ended up with soft thattais and that had to be rectified. Since I knew the rice flour and butter was the culprit, I ordered organic rice flour from Sanesa.
Amma and I started the second batch of thattais and they turned out just right. So here’s the recipe that I borrowed from Raks Kitchen – Thattai Recipe. Posting my recipe for the dough here –
Fine Rice Flour (Preferably organic or at least get good quality rice ground at a mill) – 2 cups; Urad dal (Ulutham Paruppu) flour, dry roasted and ground in a mixie – 3 TBSPs; Salt – 1.5 TSPs (Teaspoons, about 7.5 gms); Red Chilli Powder – I used 1 TBSP, but you can adjust this according to your taste; Chana Dal (soaked and drained) – 1 TBSP or use roasted Bengal gram. Keep the oil for heating and pour two TBSPs of hot oil into the flour mix.
Note 1 : Please use cold pressed oils, not refined oils. I use Tata Sampann’s cold pressed groundnut oil. Do avoid using Palm Oil.
Note 2 : Do not use butter if you want crisp Thattais :).
Note 3 : Use steel spoons when ladling hot oil and be careful not to spill it on yourself or anywhere else. Also don’t pour oil into the flour mix if you have made a small circle of water in the middle. The hot oil is to be poured into the dry flour mix. Use the same spoon to mix the oil into the flour. DO NOT touch the spoon or ladle you dipped into the hot oil. It will scald your fingers.
Mix all the ingredients into a pliable dough and keep it covered. Take a small ball of dough and pat it into a circle, use a fork to poke holes and then drop them into the hot oil one by one. Unless you are an expert cook, don’t try to rush the process and make many of them in one go.
Reduce the gas flame to ensure the Thattai is evenly fried. Turn it over a couple of times and once the sound subsides and the Thattai looks slightly brown, take it out. It will get crispier as it cools down.
Please don’t put them into a box and close the lid when the thattais are still warm. They will get soggy. Keep the box open till they all cool down to room temperature.
Here’s a short video of the Thattai making process –
Note 4 : It may appear that am giving minute directions…. I know that a lot of youngsters today do not want to cook and may not know how to cook.
Cooking is no passion of mine. It’s a very useful skill that’s important for everyone. We need to be aware of what we pop into our mouths, as the food and pharma industries depend on you to make their revenue targets :). Their biggest in, is through the packaged/restaurant food that you eat. If you fall sick, the pharma industry takes over and ensures you stay sick !!
Be wary, be aware. And please learn to cook. Nothing is better than home cooked “real” food.