Thattai

Thattai

Thattai is a South Indian snack traditionally made during Krishna Jeyanthi and Diwali. Thattai is made with rice and dal flours and fried until golden.

Ingredients Needed

Rice flour - 1 cup 
Fried gram flour/Dalia flour (pottukadalai mavu) -2 1/2 tbsp or urad dal flour (roasted, powdered and sieved)- 1 tsp (see notes below)
Bengal gram dal/ kadalai paruppu - 1 1/2 tsp or fried gram -1 1/2 tsp
Red Chili powder - 1/2 tsp flat
Unsalted butter -1 1/2 tsp
Hing - 1/4 tsp
Salt as needed
Oil for deep frying

Preparation 

How to prepare rice flour

Soak raw rice for 1 hour. Drain the water well and spread it on a cloth and dry it in shade (inside the house under the fan). After it dries completely, dry grind the rice to a fine powder. If you have a flour mill in your place, you can give the rice and get it ground to a fine powder. After getting it ground, you can spread it on a cloth again to cool. Sieve and keep it ready. (You do not have to fry it).You can prepare this flour even a week ahead.

Powder fried gram finely and sieve it. Take 2 1/2 tbsp and keep it ready.  If using bengal gram dal, soak it in water for 30 minutes, drain and keep it aside. If you are going to use fried gram dal or dalia, then skip soaking, just dry roast it slightly. Mix salt and hing in a 1 tbsp of water and keep it ready.

Method 

• In a bowl, mix together rice flour, fried gram flour, chilli powder and butter using your finger tips.  
•  Add dalia or soaked bengal gram dal, salt + hing mix, needed water and make a slightly stiff dough. Now the dough for the thattai is ready. (you can taste the dough to check for salt) Make equal sized balls out of it.
• Grease a zip lock bag or plastic sheet, place a ball of dough and flatten it as thinly as possible with your finger tips. This will give you crispy thattais.
• Prick few holes with a fork to prevent it from puffing while frying. Let it sit for 10 minutes.
• Heat oil in a heavy bottomed kadai. Check the oil temperature by dropping a small piece of dough into the oil, if it rises to the surface immediately, then the oil is ready for frying. 
• Now reduce the temperature to medium, gently transfer the flattened dough on to your hands and slide it into the oil. Deep fry 3-4 thattais both sides until golden brown.
• Remove and drain the excess oil on a paper towel. Repeat the same process for the rest of the dough.
• After it cools, store it in an airtight container.

Variations

• If you like garlic flavour, instead of red chilli powder, you can grind 3 red chillies and 4 cloves of garlic to a fine paste and add it to the rice flour. This measurement is for 1 cup of rice flour.
• If preferred, you can add coarsely ground roasted peanuts to the dough. If preferred you can add a tbsp of grated coconut to the dough.
• Instead of fried gram flour, you can add 1 tsp urad dal flour. Dry roast the urad dal until golden brown. Cool and powder it finely. Sieve and use that flour.(for 1 cup of rice flour, use 1 tsp urad dal flour).

·          Fried gram is called "pottu kadalai" or "chutney kadalai" in Tamil.

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