Mathri

Mathri

Good Morning everyone. Two days in life are very important; first the day you were born and second when you realise why. It takes time, effort, experience, divine guidance and grace to realise the reason for your existence on earth. That reason is revealed to us by our own inner conscious and practices like meditation, Bhakti, Yog helps us connect with our inner self and find our purpose in life. Over the years I found my true purpose in life. Wherever I live whatever I do deep inside I know;

My purpose in life is to make everyone I meet feel Special, Worthy, Appreciated, Loved and Respected. Spread Love. And this comes with an understanding that we are all fragments of the same Divine Light so essentially brothers and sisters children of the same Father. I bow to that Divinity in everyone and treat all with Love, Respect and Dignity.

In doing so I try that if it's someone's birthday and I know that; then I make something for them. It could be anything even a small appreciation letter written with love and affection. So, the other day it was a very dear friend's birthday but I came to know about that in the morning 4:00 a.m. Work starts at 8:00 what to do? I knew that this friend of mine loves Indian snacks so once again my culinary interests came to my rescue and I decided to make nimki or mathri.

Mathri, also nimki is a crunchy savoury snack eaten in the Indian Subcontinent. It is also referred as namak para sometimes in some parts of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. Mathri is a pastry delicately seasoned with ajwain and cumin seeds and fried in pure ghee or any oil. 

Below is the recipe. Enjoy mathri with tea. I feel nostalgic even with a thought of it :-).

Ingredients for Mathri

Maida - 1 cup

Oil to mix in maida - 2 tbsp

Salt - ¼ tsp

Kalongi - ¼ tsp

Chaat masala - ¼ tsp

Oil - to fry mathri

For making sata

Maida - 1 tbsp

Desi ghee - 1 tbsp

How to make Mathri.

Take maida in any utensil, mix salt and kalonji in it.

Add little water at a time and knead hard dough like that used for making puris. 

Cover the dough and keep it aside for 15-20 minutes for fermenting. 

Mix ghee and 1 tbsp maida, sata is ready. 

Knead the dough and make a ball.

Roll ball thinly into a circle with 10-12 inch diameter.

Place the sata on rolled parantha and spread it evenly.

Sprinkle chaat masala on top of the surface as well.

Now roll the prepared parantha. Cut ½ - ¾ cm balls from the dough. Prepare all balls likewise.

Take one ball, place it on rolling plate and with help of rolling pin roll it in a circle with 3-inch diameter. 

Fold the rolled puri in a half-moon shape. Now again fold it giving it a shape of a cone. With the help of fork make 4-5 pricks on both sides. Likewise, roll, fold and prick all the mathris.

Take oil in a pan. When oil gets medium hot, place mathris in the pan as much as possible at a time and fry on low-medium flame until they get golden brown colour (it takes 10-15 minutes). 

Take out the fried mathris in a plate with absorbent paper. Likewise fry all mathris.

Crunchy and crispy mathris are ready. Store in an airtight container when cooled completely and enjoy eating for 2 months.

Enjoy the weekend and stay safe and blessed. I will be back with another story and related recipe :-).