Oma Podi / Om Podi

Om Podi / Oma podi is a crispy snack made with besan (gram dhal flour) and rice flour and seasoned with powdered oregano seeds (omam seeds). It doesn't take up too much oil when fried and the oregano seeds make sure the tummy doesn't get upset upon consuming plenty of it. It's a favorite tea-time snack that is also used in several chaat dishes.

Ingredients:

1. 3 cups Kadala maavu / Besan / bengal gram dhal flour
2. 1 1/4 cups Rice flour
3. 1.5 teaspoon salt
4. 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon hing
5. 3 teaspoons oregano seeds / omam seeds / ajwain/ , powdered and sifted
6. 2 tablespoons room temperature butter
7. 4 cups vegetable oil for frying

Two templates for the press. Left: the template that was used this time. Right: The template that's usually used

The press used to make the oma podi

 
 Preparation:

1. Powder the oregano seeds in a blender/mixie/food processor/coffee grinder until smooth. Sift the powdered oregano to get a really smooth powder. 
2. Mix together the rice flour, besan, salt, hing, and powdered oregano seeds. 
3. Add butter and knead the flour slightly.
4. Slowly add about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of water and knead the dough well. Do not add all the water at once. The dough should be slightly harder than roti/chapathi dough. The dough should not be sticky. 
5. Heat oil in a pot until a piece of dough put into it sizzles and comes to the top. Maintain the oil temperature at medium heat.
6. Take portions of the dough and put into the press with the appropriate template placed underneath. The template used for this is slightly different from the one that's usually used. Om Podi is usually very fine and thin, but it poses practical difficulties to squeeze out such fine strands because they tend to burn quickly and it's challenging to remove them from the oil, and most importantly it's tiring to squeeze the dough through such fine holes. So, no worries, use slightly bigger holes to avoid such challenges.
7. Slowly squeeze out the dough in spirals/circles of manageable size (a couple of inches). Do not overcrowd the pot. When the om podi turns golden, remove from the oil and drain on paper towels. 
8. When cool, you can crumble the Om Podi to add to other dishes like Bhel Puri.