Wheat Thattai

Tomorrow is Deepavali - the Indian festival of lights. As the most celebrated and popular Indian festival, Deepavali symbolizes the entry of light and goodness in everyone's lives. 

Specialized sweets and savories, firecrackers, and shiny new clothes are just some of the many indulgences that the festival brings with it. 

Half away around the world, during a quiet Fall weeknight, people like me celebrate Deepavali by invoking the spirit of warmth and cheer. I usually prepare at least one sweet and savory dish to mark the festival. This time, I thought of trying a slightly different version of thattai - a crunchy snack. Instead of rice flour, I used wheat flour, thanks to the inspiration from Meenakshi ammal's cookbook. 

Ingredients:

1. 4 cups wheat flour
2. 1/4 cup urad dal flour / ulutham maavu / husked black gram flour
3. 1/4 cup white sesame seeds, lightly toasted
4. 1/4 cup pottu kadalai / fried gram dal
5. 1.5 teaspoons salt, or as needed
6. 2-3 teaspoons chilli powder
7. 1 teaspoon hing / asafoetida
8. 1/4 cup softened butter
9. vegetable oil for deep frying
10. a couple of tablespoons of coconut oil

 Preparation:

1. Dry roast the black gram flour until it warms through. Do not let it change color. Remove and add to a bowl
2. Add wheat flour, sesame seeds, fried gram dal, salt, chilli powder, and hing to the black gram flour and mix to combine
3. Add the softened butter and break/mix into the dough. Slowly add water and knead until it forms into a soft dough. 
4. Heat oil in a pot. While the oil is heating, lightly coat a plastic sheet with a little coconut oil. Take a small ball of the dough (about 1/2 inch radius) and flatten into a thin disc. Check if the oil is hot by dropping a pinch of dough. If it rises and sizzles immediately, the oil is ready. Reduce the heat to medium, and gently peel the disc from the sheet and drop into the oil. Fry both sides until golden brown. Make sure the inside cooks well by not over-heating the oil
5. Repeat the same process. Depending on the size of the pot, fry up to 3-4 discs at a time. The flatter the disc, the more crispier the thattais will be. 
6. Store thattais in an air-tight container for up to 10 days

As you can expect, this thattai tastes like a crispier, spicier version of poori because it is made from wheat flour. But, it was a different and nice experiment.