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Mathia
Thin, crisp Diwali wafers of moong and urad dal flour. Makes 80
Mathia are thin, crisp, slightly sweet and peppery wafers made from mathia flour, a mix of ground husked moong and urad dal. They are a classic Gujarati Diwali snack. The dough is pounded until pale, rolled very thin between plastic sheets and fried one at a time. They are fragile, so store them gently. To make mathia flour, finely grind 4 parts husked green gram lentils with 1 part husked black gram lentils.
- Total time
- 170 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 24
Ingredients
For the dough
For the paste
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What you'll need
Spices & pantry
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Method
0/9 doneStep 1: Boil ¾ cup water with 1 ½ tbsp salt for 3 minutes.
3 minStep 2: Take off the heat, add 8 tbsp sugar and stir until it dissolves.
Step 3: Mix 1 ⅛ lb mathia flour, 2 tbsp green chilli paste, 2 tbsp sesame seeds, 1 tsp ajwain (carom) seeds, 1 tsp asafoetida, ¼ tsp ground turmeric and bicarbonate of soda. Knead into a firm dough with the sugar and salt water.
Step 4: Pound the dough with a pestle or the end of a rolling pin until it becomes light in colour.
15 minStep 5: Divide the dough into 4 equal portions and roll each into a log 2.5 cm in diameter. Slice each log into 2.5 cm thick slices.
Step 6: Mix 2 tbsp ghee and 3 tbsp plain flour into a paste. Toss the dough slices in the paste and keep them covered.
Step 7: Roll each slice into a thin 15 cm round between 2 plastic sheets. Keep the rounds separately on a cloth, covered, so they don't dry out.
Step 8: Heat a little oil in a frying pan over medium heat and fry each mathia individually, turning once, until crisp but still pale.
60 minStep 9: Drain the oil. Mathia are fragile, so stack them gently in an air-tight container.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 250 kcal
- Protein
- 11 g
- Carbs
- 34 g
- Fat
- 8 g
- Fibre
- 4 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does mathia take?
- About 170 minutes in total: 90 minutes to prepare and 80 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 24 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
- What can I use instead of green chilli paste?
- 1 finely chopped green chilli per tsp.
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