Every year as I make sweets and savories for festivals, I try new recipes and also revisit a few childhood favorites. Yesterday, I shared my latest experimentation in the kitchen – Uppu Seedai. Today, I am sharing the next Gokulashtami Bhakshanam – Maida Thattai, also known as Ottadai. This is a recipe Amma has made many times every year growing up. Traditionally, Thattai is made with Rice Flour and is very crisp. But this version that Amma makes is really simple and is made with Maida. This recipe can be easily made even by beginners as it does not require patting with hands and the thattai is rolled.
Maida Thattai is crispy but also is flaky, like a pastry sheet and it is literally melts-in-mouth. Amma learnt this recipe from a dear neighbor when we were literally toddlers and she has been making this every year for Krishna Jayanthi and Deepavali and to be honest, as snacks for nibbling during our summer vacations. I wanted to take note and share this recipe for the sake of posterity, mainly for all the beautiful memories we have with this snack!
There are very few basic ingredients needed to make Maida Thattai – apart from the Maida/all-purpose flour, powdered gram dal, red chilli powder, hot oil/ghee and salt are added to make the dough. The consistency of the dough is very similar to that of the poori dough. It is easy to roll a large ball of dough, as thin as possible and cut it into smaller circles (or any other shapes). The temperature of the oil always must be set at medium and easily, you can fry 3-4 pieces at a time. When the Maida Thattai Muruku is light golden brown, it can be removed from oil. Storing these in an airtight container between tissue papers helps retain the freshness for over a week – that is, if you can stop munching them 🙂
📖 Recipe
First grind roasted gram dal into a smooth powder in a blender. Heat 2 teaspoon oil + 1 teaspoon ghee in a small pan until hot.
Add it to the mixing bowl along with maida, red chilli powder, salt. No need to sieve.
Now add hot oil + ghee into the bowl.
Mix the ingredients until they are crumbly.
Now add water little by little and knead it into a soft pliable dough.
Divide the dough into 4 equal sized balls.
Roll a ball of dough as thin as possible, evenly.
Using a cookie cutter or a lid, cut into smaller circles. Remove the extra dough from the edges.
Prick all over the rolled thattai using a fork. Meanwhile heat oil for deep frying. Once hot, set it on medium flame.
Drop 2-3 thattai gently into the hot oil.
Fry it on medium flame and turn it to the other side after the bottom is cooked.
When both the sides are light golden brown, remove from oil and drain onto a tissue paper.
Stack them in an airtight container for upto a week.
Adjust spices as per preference. It is optional to use ghee - it gives a good flavor! Don’t close the lid of the airtight container when the snacks are still hot. Let them come to room temperature first. Cover with a tissue paper for retaining freshness.
Reach out to me at [email protected]! Also follow me on: Facebook – Cooking From Heart Pinterest – Cookingfromheart Instagram – Cookingfromheart Twitter – Cookinfromheart
