Namakpare or Nimki
Evening time!!! When nature retires from it’s hustle bustle and the calmness takes over. Birds fly back to their nests. You return back to your pad all tired and weary after the day's hectic work. What do you look forward to rejuvenate yourself during evenings? Maybe some tea with snacks, and your family sitting together over that cup of tea and sharing their day’s activities!!!
At this time all you need is something to munch on, to satisfy not only your hunger pangs but to keep you satiated till the dinner time.
For times like this if you have a handy snack, which can be prepared in advance and be stored, it will be like sone pe suhaga (icing on the cake).
Namak para (or namakpare), nimki or nimkin (or namkin) is a crunchy savoury snack eaten in the Indian Subcontinent.
Crispy and crunchy, they are a great snack to enjoy with a cup of hot cup of tea.
You can also serve them with some mint chutney or dip to make them more delicious. You can make a sumptuous platter of chaat with them. Add in mint and tamarind chutneys along with some curd and basic spices, and voila your chaat plate is ready.
You can serve them as desi nachos too. Replace nachos with these namakpares, keeping rest of the ingredients same and you can have a perfect platter of desi nachos.
They are a staple during the Diwali and Holi festivities. You can prepare this snack well in advance for festivals, so that whenever your guests visit you, you can spend some good quality time with them and serve them these Namak Pare without any preparation.
Savory Affair @ Healthy Wealthy Cuisines
This recipe of mine is going to my Facebook gourmet group, Healthy Wealthy Cuisine wherein participating bloggers share recipes every fortnight on a pre-decided themes. Savory affair is the current theme suggested by me.
Checkout the following contributions by my fellow bloggers on this theme:
TIPS TO MAKE BEST NAMAKPARE AT HOME:
1-The consistency of the dough is very important while making this snack. It should be tight like a poori dough.
2-The amount of ghee added to the flour while kneading it is also very important. It makes the Namakpara crisp and flaky.
3-Temperature of the oil is also very important factor. Heat the oil nicely and then turn the heat to low. Now add the NamakPare in the hot oil and cook on low heat until they are browned.
This process will take time but frying on low heat is important for them to become crispy and coked from inside.
4-Take them out on a plate lined with kitchen tissue. It will absorb the extra oil and make them crisp.
5-Store the namakpare in any airtight container for up to 10-15 days.
INGREDIENTS:
Maida- 2 cups
Semolina- 1/2 cup
Ghee- 1/4th cup
Salt- 1 tea spoon.
Carom-seeds/ Ajwain- 1 tea spoon.
Oil- to fry
DIRECTIONS:
Add maida, oil, salt and ajwain in a bowl. Mix nicely till crumbly.
Add a few tbsp of water at a time and mix to make a tight dough.
Add little water and knead to make a stiff dough.
Cover the dough and keep aside for 30 minutes.
Divide the dough into 3 or 4 equal parts and make balls of it.
Take one ball and roll it into 1/2 inch thick disc on a rolling board.
Prick the rolled out disc with a fork. By doing this Namakparas will not have bubbled skin.
Cut this roll into small squares or rectangles or diamond pieces and separate each piece.
Repeat the step with other dough balls too.
Take a pan and heat Oil to fry.
Put the cut pieces into the pan and deep fry them on medium high heat till golden brown.
Do not over crowd the namakpares in the pan.
It will take around 12- 15 minutes for each batch to fry. Keep turning the namakparas while frying.
Take them out with the help of perforated spoon once they turn Brown in colour.
Fry rest of the Namakpare in the same way.
Remove the namakpare in a plate and let them cool.
Once cooled, store them in an air tight container for up to a month.
Serve the Namakpare with tea or coffee.
Recipe Card
Namakpare or Nimki
Namak para (or namakpare), nimki or nimkin (or namkin) is a crunchy savoury snack eaten in the Indian Subcontinent.
Crispy and crunchy, they are a great snack to enjoy with a cup of hot cup of tea.
INGREDIENTS:
All purpose flour/ Maida- 2 cups
Semolina/ Sooji- 1/2 cup
Clarified butter/ Ghee- 1/4th cup
Salt- 1 tea spoon.
Carom-seeds/ Ajwain- 1 tea spoon
Water- as required
Oil- to fry
DIRECTIONS:
Add maida,sooji, ghee, salt and ajwain in a bowl. Mix nicely till crumbly.
Add a few tbsp of water at a time and mix to make a tight dough.
Add little water and knead to make a stiff dough.
Cover the dough and keep aside for 30 minutes.Divide the dough into 3 or 4 equal parts and make balls of it.
Take one ball and roll it into 1/2 inch thick disc on a rolling board.
Prick the rolled out disc with a fork. By doing this Namakparas will not have bubbled skin.
Cut this roll into small squares or rectangles or diamond pieces and separate each piece.
Repeat the step with other dough balls too.
Take a pan and heat Oil to fry.
Put the cut pieces into the pan and deep fry them on medium high heat till golden brown.
Do not over crowd the namakpares in the pan.
It will take around 12- 15 minutes for each batch to fry. Keep turning the namakparas while frying.
Take them out with the help of perforated spoon once they turn Brown in colour.
Fry rest of the Namakpare in the same way.
Remove the namakpare in a plate and let them cool.
Once cooled, store them in an air tight container for up to a month.
Serve the Namakpare with tea or coffee.