So,what do you do when a guest stops by your home at an unexpected time ???
You : I pretend I am not at home .
Me:Whaaaaaaaattt??
You:Stupiiiid."Athithi devo bhava " right ?? So,obviously ,I heartily welcome them,make them comfortable ,have gup-shups/chit-chats and gossips :P and serve them drinks and eateries.
Me:Ohh thanks for the compliment !! :D ..so sweet of u !! and yes I know "Athithi devo bhava/"Guest becomes God" but what happens if a guest drops in without any notice and they are gonna leave soon and then what do you serve them ,"your quick yet tasty food you make exclusively for them right on" ????
You: Aaaaah !! I seee ...ufff ..when are you gonna learn to say something simple and straight without making it a roundabout ???
Me: I've a twisted tongue I guess :O..well,that's me !! Answer my question ??
You : Well,.............
Me: hmmm...looks like either you don't wanna tell me or your mind is doing a roundabout now 8) or you really pretend to be not at home then :D ..anyways,time is up pal !!!
Whooops ..excuse me guys..that was just a scenario I had once with one of my friend and I was just imagining what would have happened if I would have had the same conversation with "You" my reader ...Something similar right ..before you would say I would have even slapped you or going to ...let me certainly cut the crap and come to the point.:D
So,whenever I've an impromptu guest and when I don't have anything ready made snacks at home to serve them (which is kinda must for me) ,my quickest "Go to" snack is my namkeen cuts ,something you can quickly make and even bite at one side and on another side you can gossip about anything and anyone simultaneously ,without wasting anytime :P .How interesting multi-tasking is that ?:P.
So,Namkeen cuts are light and quick crunchy snacks made with just wheat flour,salt and fried in oil . It can be made in no time in lots and can be stored in an air tight container for many days . It is a snack anyone would love to munch.
Usually it's called diamond cuts and made especially with maida/all purpose flour .However ,I used the wheat flour as an healthy alternative .
Wheat namkeen cuts
Ingredients
Whole Wheat flour - 1 cup
salt -1 teaspoon
Warm water - 3/4 cup
Baking Soda -1/4 teaspoon
Black salt -as needed
Oil as needed for frying
Method:
- In a bowl,mix wheat flour,salt and baking soda .
- Add water little by little and knead it until it forms a non-sticky smooth dough.Keep it aside for an hour.
- Make big balls out of it (as needed bigger than golf ball) and keep it aside.
- Cover them with flour so that they don't stick and using roll pin,them into a big chappati shape or a big circle shape.
- Using a knife make vertical stripes and then horizontal stripes in a way that they become more or less diamond shaped.
- Heat oil in a deep pan/Kadai on high flame.Put a bit of above diamond cut into the oil.If they bubble up and resurface above the oil.It's ready to fry.
- Reduce the flame to medium and fry the cuts one by one on both sides (flipping other side in between) until they get a golden color and firm .(initially they will fluff up and look like mini pooris ,keep them on medium flame for a few more minutes until they become firm and slight dark brown).
- Using a slotted ladle transfer the fried cuts onto the tissue papers and let them cool and then transfer them to an air tight container later.
- Sprinkle (carefully) black salt onto the fried cuts.
- Enjoy with a hot cup of tea.
- You can even add either cumin seeds,ajwain/carrom seeds or sesame seeds in the first step with the wheat flour.
- You can use all purpose flour/maida instead of wheat flour .
- For making a spicy version,add chilly powder with the flour.
- Instead of salt you can even replace it with sugar to make it sweet.
- I had no intention to make it diamond shape exactly .So,you can see all kinds of geometric shapes ;D.
Eat,Love,Live well
Sending this to Priya’s Virundhu 's CWS event announcement
