Mom's Recipies

Everyone likes Sev at my home.This is crunchy and awesome tea time snack. It is versatile and is used in several dishes. It is used as a topping or to garnish almost all chaat foods. It can be had plain or spiced with some chilli powder and garlic. This is the traditional dish prepared at home during festivals like Diwali.
Here is the recipe for crunchy and delicious Sev as prepared by my mother.

Preparation & Cooking: 1 hr

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 Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup chick pea flour/besan/senaga pindi

1 cup rice flour

1/2 tsp red chilli powder (optional)

1/2 tsp Carom seeds powder / vaamu/ajwain

1/4 tsp Cumin Seeds Powder

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

salt to taste

2 tbsp hot ghee or oil

oil for deep frying




Method:-


1)  Mix  all together rice flour, gram flour, salt, hot ghee or oil, chilli powder ,Cumin seeds powder,Carom seeds powder,turmeric  and combine well.
2)  Slowly add water little by little to make a soft dough, just soft enough that it is pressed through easily with the chakali press.



3) From chakali press replace the chakali attachment with sev attachment .
4) Adjust the dough for salt before deep-frying.
5) Heat a wide heavy bottomed  pan with enough oil for deep frying.
6) Take the sev press and fill with the dough .Once the oil is hot, reduce to medium flame and press the sev press in circular motion to make concentric layers of the sev dough. As you press the dough into the hot oil, you will find the oil froths up in bubbles which will eventually subside as the sev turns to a golden colour. Fry for a minute on medium heat to achieve that golden color and crispness.Don't over fry otherwise colour turns to brown.
7)  When the sev turns a golden color, turn over to the other side and let it also cook to a golden colour. Use a slotted ladle to remove to an absorbent paper and cool. Crush gently with hands before storing.
8) Cool completely before storing in an air tight or metallic container.


Tips:-

   1. You can also flavour the batter with garlic paste or spinach purée to make  garlic sev or spinach sev.

Chakli is famous Indian snack which is made mainly in Diwali.It has been long been the tradition at most homes to make delicious snacks such as Chakali, Thattai, Sev etc. along with some special Indian sweets for Deepavali.I couldn't remember one person who doesn't love this crunchy Chakalis.There are many types of chakalis.I made chakalis with Bhajani .My husband ,my daughter and even I am great fan of these chakalis . My mom is an expert in making chakalis and these are our family's all time favourite.This is one of my mom's very special recipe, she used to make for every Diwali. I tried them out this Diwali and It came out very nice (as you can see), crunchy and tasty. :-)

Recipe courtesy: My mom.

Chakali Flour [Bhajani]Ingredients:
1 cup Chana Dal
½ cup Urad Dal
3 cups white Rice
1/2 cup Sabudana (Sago)


Method:

1) First wash Chana Dal with water and drain water .Spread over a cloth then immediately roast it on heat till golden brown.Do not use oil for roasting.
2) Then wash urad dal with water and drain water .Spread over a cloth then immediately roast it on heat till golden brown.Do not use oil for roasting.
3) Dry roast each dals separately on medium heat.
4) Wash Rice and drain water. Spread over a cloth then immediately roast it on heat till golden brown.
5) Dry roast Sago till brown.
6) Let all roasted Items cool down. Mix all and grind to fine powder. This Blended Flour is used to make Chakali.
7) This is 'bhajani' flour for chakli. This can last upto a year if store in an airtight container.

For Dough:-
* 2 cups bhajani flour ( Chakali Flour)
* 1 tbsp white sesame seeds
* 1 teaspoon ajwain ( Carom Seeds)
* 1 tbsp red chili powder or (as per the taste)
* 1/2 tsp asafoetida
* 1/2 tsp Cumin powder
* 1/2 tsp Coriander powder
* salt to taste
* 1/4 cup oil (called 'mohan' in marathi)
* Oil for deep Frying

Method:-

1) Heat some oil in a pan until it reaches the smoking stage. Pour it over the bhajani and mix.
2) Add sesame seeds, ajwain, salt, cumin powder, coriander powder ,chili powder, and approx. 1 cup boiling water into the bhajani.
3) Knead the flour well to make a soft pliable dough. Put it in the chakli mold or kitchen press.
4) Press out in circular motion to make chaklis of desired size (generally of 3 rotations).
5) Heat enough oil in the pan. When oil is heated enough, turn the heat to medium to low and put chaklis in the pan. Avoid overfrying.
Fry chaklis in small batches of 2 to 3. A well done chakli stops bubbling and starts going down in the oil.Deep Fry chakali on medium heat ,until golden.Drain and put on paper towel to remove excessive oil.
6) Once cool, store Chaklis in an airtight container.

Tips:

1) Chaklis break at the time of frying if abundant oil is used in the flour.

2) On the other hand, they turn hard if the amount of oil is not sufficient.

3) Bhajani should be ground to a very fine powder.

4) Fry chakalis in small batches or 2 to 3 at a time to achieve crispness, else they become soggy. Replace the oil periodically (when you see the oil becoming frothy) or they break at the time of frying.

5) The oil should be sufficiently hot (but not at the smoking point), else chaklis soak up lots of oil and may not become crisp. Also once oil is heated enough, turn the heat to lowest setting. High heat causes them to cook on the outside, while staying uncooked from the inside, or sometimes they even burn and taste bitter.