These fried, savoury and crunchy rice swirls are popular snack foods consumed at Indian festivals. Chakri is often eaten at diwali and whilst you can buy these ready-made in Asian supermarkets, most people will want to make their own at home. As such, I’ve leaned on my mother-in-law and my mum to help make these little delights (when it was covid-safe!).
I’ll be the first to admit that Chakri, amongst other Indian snacks, is not something I’d plan to cook myself. Let’s face it, who has time when you can buy them?!? Although having said that, after creating these chakri and tasting them, you can appreciate why homemade is always best. During festivities, like Diwali, it’s all about cooking food together and having fun. Sadly this year, I’ll be making these on my own, but I’m up for the challenge…
I’m glad however, that I got the chance to make these initially with the mums, as I learned a new skill in the making…how to use a chakri machine!
If you’re preparing for Diwali, take a look at my recent desserts recipes for some inspiration. Enjoy!
Chakri
Equipment
- Chakri maker
- Fryer
Ingredients
- 250 g Rice flour
- 1 tbs Mash Potato (dried from packet)
- 1 tsp Ginger (grated)
- 1½ tsp Sesame seeds
- 10 g Green chillies (chopped)
- 1 tsp Salt
- 4 g Chopped coriander
- 150 ml Sour Cream
- ¼ tsp Turmeric powder
- 60 ml Water
- 1/2 Lemon (juice)
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, add the rice flour, grated ginger, chopped chillies, sesame seeds, salt, coriander, turmeric, mashed potato granules and lemon juice. Give this all a good stir and mix the ingredients.
- Now add the sour cream and water. Using your hands knead into a dough. Knead for approximately 5 minutes to ensure the mixture forms a well-combined dough.
- Pinch off enough dough and place this into the chakri maker. Add the 'star' shape template and on a flat, clean surface, turn out the chakris into a swirl with 3 coils.
- Continue to churn out the chakris. The dough should make approximately 25 Chakris.
- In a deep frying pan, heat some oil on a medium heat. Once hot, using a palette knife or flat edge of a wide knife, lift the chakri gently and place into the fryer. Be careful not to overload your fryer with too many, so to give them space to cook without sticking.
- Cook the chakri on one side for 30 seconds, ensuring to keep them separated, before turning over to cook for another 30 seconds on the other side.
- Drain the chakri using a frying sieve and place on a kitchen roll sheet, so it absorbs any oil.
- Let the chakri cool for about 1 hour before tucking in!
