Namak Parey

My parents used to make huge buckets full of namak parey when we were younger- we ate these instead of chips. These fried snacks are really great on their own or you can use them in the recipe for papadi chaat that I posted in my Facebook group by clicking here. Namak paray keep well for weeks if stored in an airtight container.

You’re going to want to make a fairly hard ball of dough, this doesn’t work well if the dough is too soft.  It’s also important to let the dough rest at room temperature for at least 15 minutes so that the gluten bonds have time to relax and the dough becomes easier to work with.  You’ll find that if you don’t rest the dough it’ll be extremely tough to roll it out without the dough resisting you.  

Once the dough has rested, split it into 4 balls and roll them out individually.  I like to roll mine over my cutting board and then use a pizza cutter to cut it into strips.  

Next, you drop each individual strip into medium heat oil and move them around constantly so that they brown evenly.  Don`t worry if the dough initially drops straight to the bottom of the pan because as soon as it starts to heat up the namak parey float.  

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour/maida
approximately 1 cup water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp clarified butter/ghee
1 heaping tsp of cumin/zeera
oil for frying

Method:

1. Mix together all of the ingredients except for the water.
2. Add the water a little at a time, you want to knead the dough into a little hard ball so stop adding water when the dough just starts to come together- you most likely wont be using all of the water.
3. Knead the dough until it stops sticking to your hands and then cover it and set aside for at least 15 minutes.
4. Split the dough into 4 pieces and roll each one out individually until it’s thin. Use a sharp knife or a pizza cutter to cut into roughly 1 inch by 2 inch long strips.
5. In a deep karai or wok heat the oil to medium heat and drop in a handful of the strips, make sure the oil isn’t too hot because you don’t want them to turn brown instantly. Fry, stirring constantly, until they turn a light golden brown.
6. Use a slotted spoon to remove the namak parey from the oil and drain in a colander lined with paper towel in order to remove the excess oil.