Omapodi

Other name - Sev

Prep Time: 20 min
Cooking Time: 35 min

Ingredients

1. Besan / Gram flour - 2 cups
2. Rice flour - 1 cup
3. Salt - 1.75 tsp
4. Red chilly powder - 1.5 tsp
5. Asafoetida powder - 1/4 tsp
6. Carom seeds (fine powder) - 2 tsp
7. Ghee (melted) - 2 tbsp
8. Vegetable oil - to deep fry
9. Water - 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp
   

All you need

1. Frying pan / Wok / Kadai
2. Kitchen press
3. Kitchen tissues
4. Slotted ladle

Method

1. Wash & dry the mould - Kitchen press.
2. Sieve besan & rice flour together for about 2 to 3 times.
3. Dry grind ajwain seeds in a mixie; sieve and collect the fine powder.
4. Combine sieved besan and rice flour, salt, red chilly powder, asafoetida powder, fine ajwain powder, ghee in a large mixing bowl & mix well.
5. Add required amount of water little by little to this mixture to form a medium soft dough; the dough should be neither too soft nor too hard.
6. Take the mould and fix the plate for omapodi on it; the required plate has numerous tiny holes on it.
7. Heat vegetable oil in a wok until smoking point and reduce heat to medium.
8. Open mould, add a handful of the mixture into the mould, close it and hold it over the hot oil.
9. Start squeezing the first batch of the dough in a circular motion and set aside the mould.
10. Squeeze the dough in batches; do not squeeze the whole dough at a single time.
11. Once the dough is squeezed in to the hot oil, the oil sizzles up, which eventually subsides as the omapodi turns golden yellow color.
12. The deep frying process has to be done on medium flame to attain golden yellow color and crispness.
13. Turn omapodi to the other side with a slotted ladle & let it cook golden brown.
14. Once done, remove omapodi from hot oil on to clean kitchen tissues to drain excess oil; allow to cool.
15. Repeat similar process until whole of the dough is done.
16. Cool completely before storing in a dry, air tight container; the snack stays fresh for up to 2 weeks.
17. Can be served along with tea / coffee and also with most of the chaat items.