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Maida Chakli for this Diwali

A crunchy and spicy tea time snack, Chakli is a festive speciality, in Maharashtra and the Southern parts of India. However, the Maida mixed variant of this snack, is a speciality of Gujarat and Maharashtra regions of India. Made out of maida, mixed with black sesame seeds and carom seeds, this is a light, fragrantsnack that can be munched on, through the morning till night. Maida Chaklis are light on the stomach but abundant in taste. Try making this easy recipe for your family and friends this Diwali.

Serves: 30 pieces

Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups of Maida or All purpose flour
  • 1 tsp of salt
  • 1 tsp of black sesame seeds
  • 1 tsp of ajwain / carom seeds (if preferred)
  • Sunflower oil for frying

Preparing the Chakli

  • Pour three cups of Maida onto the sieve.
  • Once sieved thoroughly, shift the maida onto a clean cotton cloth and tie it.
  • Now place the tied maida into the pressure cooker container and close the lid.
  • In case you do not have a pressure cooker container, you may use any other steel container that can fit into the cooker. Make sure you close lid of that container.
  • Now pour in drinking water till half of the steel container’s height.
  • Close the pressure cooker and light the stove.
  • Cook for about 15 minutes by the clock. Do not bother about the number of cooker whistles that might blow.
  • After 15 minutes turn off the stove, and let the pressure cooker cool down.
  • Once all of the steam evaporates, open the container and pull out the cloth with the maida tied in
  • The maida inside the cloth will come out looking like a cooked lump of flour
  • Now empty the maida lump into a large pan
  • Beat the maida lump into a powdered flour
  • Sieve this powdered maida flour to ensure that no lumps are left behind
  • Next, to the sieved maida flour add black sesame seeds to the flour, 2 tbs of Sunflower oil and salt
  • Now it is time to knead the flour into a dough
  • Start by addinga tiny amount of water, as you knead the flour. Keep on adding little water, as and when needed, till you get a smooth dough
  • Now take a clean chakli maker and fit a star or circle shapedstrainer into it
  • Press out strings of raw maida chakli mixture onto a butter paper or a flour sprinkle board.
  • Try to slightly swirl the chakli maker while pressing out the mixture to make circles of three encircled bands.
  • Make sure the bands are slightly stuck to each other to hold the shape of the chakli together.

Frying the Chakli

  • Heat Sunflower oil to a medium heat in a wok
  • Now slide in the chaklis one after the other, 4 at a time. If the wok is small, fry only as many as is possible since we do not want the chakli’s to get stuck to each other while frying
  • Do not Over Fry the chakli
  • Once done, lay the fried chaklis out on paper sheets or kitchen towels
  • Let the chaklis cool down
  • Serve this batch of fresh Chaklis to be devoured with tea or you may store them in a spacious container.