Diwali Faral - Chakli

Now comes the part  where you actually  make the chakalis. I have read in many places that chaklis don't often turn out well. Sometimes they are too hard, or they turn soft the next day, or they fall apart in the oil while frying. Needless to say that I was very very VERY apprehensive.

Think about it, it was about 2 and half kilos of various ingredients I was using. Think about the wastage if they turned out horribly wrong. What if the taste wasn't right? I was praying to God, and crossing my fingers all the time I was making the recipe. I decided  to stick to one recipe and follow everything by the word.

They turned out quite well. They didn't break. I made them day before yesterday and I am posting the recipe today, so I can safely say that they didn't go soft. They are still very crisp. So just follow my recipe in toto and there shouldn't be any reason for the chakalis to go wrong.

Ingredients

• 2 cups chakli bhajani (the previous post has the recipe for that or you can buy it from the market)
• 2 cups water
• 3 tsp oil (not more than that)
• salt to taste
• 5 tsp red chilli powder (or more if you want it spicier)
• 3 tsp turmeric powder
• 3 tsp chaat masala

1. Boil the water in a vessel. Add the oil and the spices to the water itself.
2. Once it has begun boiling, add the bhajni flour to the water and remove from heat.
3. Stir vigorously till all the water has been incorporated by the flour.
4. Allow the mixture to cool till you can handle it well.
5. Knead well into a firm dough. Do not add any more water or oil. It has to be a firm dough. Taste a little at this point to be sure of the seasoning. Keep the salt a little less than you would like, for once it gets fried it tastes saltier than it tasted in the dough stage.
6. Put the dough in a chakli maker. Use the star attachment for making the chaklis.
7. Grease a plastic sheet with a little oil.
8. Squeeze a length of the dough through the chakli maker onto the greased plastic sheet, and roll with a light touch in the shape of a jalebi.
9. Deep fry them in oil over low heat. Keep the heat as low as possible. When you first dip your raw chakli into the oil it will bubble up furiously. When the bubbles have slowed down considerably and the color of the chakli changes to slightly golden brown, remove them from the oil with a perforated spoon.
10. Drain the chaklis on kitchen towels.
11. Cool them completely. Only then place them in an airtight container. 

Happy C@@king! (okay, that is not caaking, those are meant to be o's in the shape of chaklis :-(  )