Thattai is a popular snack in South India made for several festivals. It is made especially for Krishna Jayanthi / Gokulashtami / Janmashtami festival and Diwali. Like any other traditional snack, Thattai is a little time-consuming to make, but it is not a hard process at all. These days, it is very easy to get sweets and snacks from stores, but there is nothing like making them at home. Thattai tastes so much better and fresher when made at home. As the kids are growing up, I feel that there is more and more necessary to make traditional Indian snacks for them. I am blessed to have kids who love Indian food and feel very connected to their roots. When making traditional snacks like this, I think back to my childhood days and cherish my memories by sharing those stories with them. This year for Krishna Jayanthi, I made thattai and Therattipaal. Therattipaal aka milk fudge happens to be baby Krishna’s favorite and also my boys. I grew up loving this milk sweet made from fresh cow’s milk. My grandmother would stir the milk for hours and make this delicious Therittipaal for us every time we to our village. Whenever I think of what savory snack to make, Thattai takes the first preference. I love the crispy thattai and is definitely much easier than many other traditional snacks. I don’t make a big batch at once and instead, make smaller batches at regular intervals. Homemade rice flour works best for making Thattai, but we can use good quality store-bought rice flour as well. Just ensure that you sieve the flour well before using it. Preparation time – 30 MinutesCooking time – 2 hoursDifficulty level – Intermediate
Ingredients to make Thattai - Makes about 25
Rice flour – 1 cup Urad dal flour/ullutham maavu – 1 ½ TBSP Roasted gram flour – ¼ cup Bengal gram dal / kadalai paruppu – 2 TBSP Coconut – 2 tablespoon (grated) Chili powder – 1 ½ teaspoon (adjust based on your spice preference) Asafetida – ½ tsp Ellu/White Sesame - 1 TBSP Salt – to taste Karuvepillai / Curry leaves – few Butter – 1 ½ TBSP Oil - To deep fry
Procedure to make Thattai -
To make the urad dal flour / ullutham Maavu -
Ullutham podi is used for many savory snacks during the festival season. If you are planning to make a couple of dishes involving this, I would suggest that you make a big batch and store it in an air-tight container.
To get ¼ cup of urad dal flour, I used about ½ cup of Urad dal.
Fry the urad dal until brown and let it cool down.
Grind it to a very smooth powder and sieve it.
Again grind the coarse remaining dal and sieve it again. Use the fine powder to make the thattais.
To make Roasted Gram Flour / Pottu kadalai Maavu –
Slightly warm the pottu kadai/roasted gram (for about 2-3 mins).
Cool it down and grind it to a smooth powder. Sieve it and use the fine powder in the recipe.
To Make the Thattai Dough -
Soak the Bengal gram dal for about an hour.
Roast the rice flour until it is hot and aromatic. The rice flour does not have to change color, but it has to be hot to the touch. Sift the roasted flour and place it in a large bowl.
Add all the flours, drained Bengal gram dal, coconut, salt, red chili powder, sesame, asafoetida, and chopped curry leaves to the same bowl. Mix it well.
Now add the butter and using your hands mix everything well until it resembles bread crumbs.
Slowly sprinkle water to this mixture and bring it all together to form a smooth dough.
How to shape the Thattai -
Spread a large, clean cotton cloth on the countertop. I use a cotton veshti.
Make small balls (as big as key lime) and place them between 2 parchment papers. You can also use a thick plastic sheet and grease it to shape the thattai.
Use your fingers initially to flatten and then using a flat bowl or your palm flatten it entirely to form a thin disc.
Place the shaped thattai on the cotton cloth.
Do the same with the rest of the dough and leave them on the cloth until they are ready to fry. Doing this ensures that all the excess moisture is dried from the thattai, which results in a crispy thattai.
Prick a few holes in the thattai with a fork. This ensures that the Thattai does not puff up when frying.
In the meantime, heat the oil in a wide pan. Once the oil is heated through, lower the heat to low. Slowly slide the shaped and dried thattai into the oil.
Depending on the size of the pan, you can fry 3 to 4 thattai at the same time.
Slightly increase the heat and fry them until light brown. Remove it on a paper towel and then transfer it to a container. Repeat the same for the rest of the dough.
Once cooled completely, store them in an air-tight container.
Other Snack Ideas
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