"Bajra (Pearl Millet) Nippat (Nippattu/ Mathri/Crackers)" ... What do you do when it rains heavily and you need to pep up your mood ... Yep, prepare and hog on some karum kurum snacks ... prepared these flavorful crisp snacks with bajra flour to munch on while gazing at rain drops ... Yummilicious ......
** Nippattu or Nippat (In Konkani) and Crispy Crackers in English are small poori / round disc shaped deep fried snack that can be relished any time of the day. These can be prepared both bland and spicy. Again, they can be deep-fried or baked. But, then for baking you will need oven with a larger capacity, which is a little bit difficult for those staying in India. As in India, we usually use OTG and baking in them will not only take up lots of time, but will also not be economical, as it will consume lot of electricity, not to mention the huge bills. We GSB Konkani Saraswats prepare this snack in many varieties and store in large tins during festive seasons as frequently there will be guests dropping in and it's fun to munch on as we chat. We can also add in many ingredients like onion, jackfruit seeds, putani (roasted gram) etc. to these. So can also prepare these using different dals, flour etc. though traditional rice was the main ingredient in it to get crisp textured nippats. I have already posted Nippat before prepared using urad dal and rice flour seasoned with spices to which I will share the link at the bottom of this recipe, Do check out that recipe and try out the same too.
** Today Nippatu happened just by chance, I was whiling away doing nothing as after a long time I was getting some time off in the mornings. After an hour of enjoying my new found freedom of doing nothing, I began getting bored and my legs began aching sitting in one place doing nothing. I decided to read a book but could not concentrate and my mind kept wandering towards the kitchen. Yeah, mornings are always my time in kitchen when at home and it has never been otherwise, so I simply feel lazy to do anything else even if there are loads of pending work to attend to elsewhere. Hubby came home for a break, and was surprised to see me doing nothing, he casually asked “Nothing Special?” and that was enough for me to bounce into the kitchen. After he left in 5 minutes, I still had an hour time before I followed him to office, so zeroed in on this Nippattu with new combo which we could munch on as monsoon has set in and it’s a lovely snack to relish while gazing outside window to watch on the pouring rains. So without more details let’s move on to the recipe of this nippattu / crackers which I prepared using Bajra/Pear millet with spices.
** Here is my simple recipe for "Bajra (Pearl Millet) Nippat (Nippattu/Mathri/ Crackers)" … My Style …....
** Ingredients :
Bajra / Pearl Millet Flour : 3 cups.
Coriander Leaves / Dhania / Kothimbir : ½ cup finely chopped.
Green Chillies / Hirvi Mirchi / Tarni Mirsanga : 5-6 chopped to pieces.
Ginger / Alle’ / Adrak : 1 inch piece cut to pieces.
Garlic / Losun : 4-5 peeled and chopped.
Curry Leaves / Kadipatta / Karbevu : 8-10 fresh leaves.
Curds / Dahi : 2-3 tblsp
Roasted Jeera (Cumin) Powder : 1 tsp
Roasted Saunf (Badisep/Fennel) Powder : ½ tsp
Coarsely Powder Black Pepper Powder : 1 tsp
White Til / Sesame/ Tilu : 2 tblsp
Hot Oil : 2 tblsp
Salt to taste.
** Oil for Deep Frying.
** In a mixer grinder add in the coriander leaves, green chillies, ginger, curry Leaves and grind to a coarse mixture. Do not add in any water, also use pulse mode for grinding, as the paste should be coarse, while all ingredients should be ground to a coarse texture.
** In a wide bowl add in the ground mixture along with curds, roasted jeera and saunf powder, along with pepper powder, salt to taste and the til/sesame seeds. Now add in hot oil and mix all the ingredients well. Add in bajra/pearl millet flour, mix well till you get a crumbled texture.
** Keep sprinkling some water and knead to get a stiff dough. Do not make the dough soft and do not add in more water, just keep sprinkling as you go binding for preparing the dough. Now cover with a tight lid and keep the dough aside for 15-20 minutes.
** Grease your palms with water and make equal small lemon sized balls out of the dough. If the dough breaks, just apply more moisture on hand and keep rolling. Check the picture collage posted along for proper knowledge.
** Now keep the kadai/pan of oil for deep frying to get heated while you prepare the nippats/crackers. Again grease the left hand palm with water and place a prepared ball on center and with the help of right hand palm press gently to make small sized round evenly pressed poori of say about 3 inch diameter.
** Be careful when you press to make the poori adding gently pressure, if pressed with force they will break apart. It is difficult to roll with a rolling pin bajra/pear millet flour unlike the previous urad-rice one I posted. Off course you can keep it between plastic sheets and do so, but this is the easiest way. You can also use a banana leaf for this purpose.
** Once done either place it on a plastic sheet / banana leaf/ brown paper/ butter paper or on a silicon sheet, so that lifting it later on turns out easier. Make some ready and place them on the sheet and then with the help of a fork make marking/incisions on them all over, this is done so as to avoid the nippat/crackers from getting puffed up.
** Once the oil reaches smoking hot point, lower the heat and wait for some time till it cools slightly. Add in a small piece of dough to check the heat, if it sinks down, sizzles and rises slowly without blackening or burning out the temperature is right. Do maintain this temperature of oil throughout deep frying of the nippats, which is very important.
** Gently remove the nippats from sheet and add into the oil. Do not overcrowd the kadai as there should be enough space for the nippats to be evenly cooked and turn to crispy brown. Wait for a few minutes and then stir and flip them over. Fry them until they are evenly browned flipping them often to be evenly browned. Remove on an absorbent paper and proceed with the remaining dough till all are fried and done.
** "Bajra (Pearl Millet) Nippat (Nippattu/ Mathri/Crackers)" are done and ready to be stored / served. Store them in airtight containers once they have cooled down completely. They will turn crisp once they cool down, so do not over fry them. Serve them along with other dishes for breakfast or evening snack and enjoy them with your family and friends.
** These Nippats unlike the urad dal-rice once are slightly thicker in texture and crisp. But will not remain crisp throughout if they are too thick, so be careful on that point, remains good for a few days, though I would advise you to finish it in 2 days period as I found that they do not remain so like the other ones, but taste wise they are simply awesome.
** Do try out this version of nippat /nippattu/ Mathri / Crackers using Bajra / Pearl Millet flour as it is monsoon season and consumption of bajra is good during cold seasons. Again, this is a healthier version were in I have used bajra, a millet. I will be trying out other combos of flours soon, till then enjoy these this yummy savory spicy snack with your family and friends.
** Given below is the link for "Nippat/Nippatu prepared using a combo of Urad dal and rice". Do check out on the same and try it out if you would like to taste those too ….
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