Atta Mathri Recipe

Namkeen mathri is a spicy north indian snack made with whole wheat flour (atta), suji (semolina), spices and seasonings. These khasta (crispy) savory crackers are commonly served for evening tea time munching with achar(indian pickle), chutneys and chai.

Though, I am partial to taste and texture of traditional, deep fried crunchy mathri, I did test the air fried version and was quite happy with the results. So, in this post, I am including the instructions for both deep fried and air fryer mathri versions.

Growing up, homemade besan ladoo and aate ki mathri were two snacks that were always stored away in tall glass jars in kitchen cabinets of my grandmother's house. In our home, mathri is made with atta and sooji.

You can definitely add some maida (all purpose flour) for a smoother texture, however I have grown to love the taste of the atta ones.

About Mathiri

Mathri, also known as matthi or mathiya is a deep fried savory cracker. There are many versions all over India. Punjabi mathiri is one of the most popular with spices like black peppercorns and kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves) added for flavor.

In other regions of the country, mathri dough has different flavors like achari(pickle spices flavored), ajwain (carom seeds) or jeera (cumin seeds).

My original family recipe uses only salt and ajwain for flavoring. However, my husband is a huge fan of punjabi mathris so now I add additional flavors like black peppercorns, red chilli flakes and cumin seeds. I keep the size slightly larger than a ritz cracker, though my grandmother used to roll them much larger.

Atta Mathri Taste & Texture

Since these are made with whole wheat flour and semolina, the texture is much crisper than the recipes using maida (all- purpose flour). The have a rustic look due to atta and the taste is amazing. Avoid rolling them too thick else they will get either get hard during long frying or remain doughy/raw from inside if you dont fry them enough.

How To Make Khasta Mathiri

The key to a khasta mathri is frying on low, consistent heat and the right amount of moyan in the stiff dough.

Moyan

In indian cooking, moyan or moyana is a term often used, particulaly in north india. It refers to the fat (oil, butter or ghee) that is added to flour while making sweet pastry (like gujiya) or savory pastries (like kachori).

Once the moyan is added, we rub it with the flour in such a way that every speck of flour is moistened before we add liquid and knead. You could think of the process similar to working butter in the flour when you make american biscuits. If moyan is less, the pastry will turn out hard and dry.

One of the ways to check if moyan is correct is to take flour in our hand and closing it to make a fist. Once you open the fist, the flour should hold its shape together (image 6).

Deep Frying

A consistent temperature and slow deep frying yields a khasta mathri. This makes sure that the mathris are cooked till inside and due to moyan, they will get a crispy & flaky texture. If you will fry the mathri on high temperature, they will remian raw or soft on inside and will be browned on outside.

Why I love this Recipe

• Wholesome ingredients like whole wheat flour and semolina. This a no maida mathri recipe.
• Indulgent Nibbles - Its perfect for those time when I am craving a satifying snack. These crackers (though deep fried), if eaten in moderation, satify you!
• Long shelf time - Once you have made them, you can store them away for weeks!
• Great for travel - I love carrying them on road trips, with a cup of hot tea, they taste amazing and make for a quick snack!

Ingredients

• Atta - Indian whole wheat flour is milled much finer as compared to the whole wheat flour available in baking aisles. You can easily purcahse atta online or in indian grocery stores.
• Suji/ Sooji - Fine semolina. Gives mathri the signature crispy texture.
• Spices - Cumin Seeds, Black Peppercorns, Chilli flakes, Ajwain (carrom seeds) Hing(asafetida). You could add kasuri methi or any other flavors as desired.
• Oil for Deep frying

Instructions For Making Mathri (Step Photos)

Prepare The Dough

1. In a mortar pestle or a small dry grinder jar, add all the spices, chilli flakes and salt. Pound the spices to make a powder. Little coarse is fine.
2. In a large wide dish (paraat) or a large mixing bowl works as well, add the atta, semolina and the ground dry spices.
3. Moyan - Add oil, about 2 tablespoon at first and then more mix it into the flour mixture with your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs. The longer you mix the moyan with flour, the better the texture. You cannot overmix at this stage. I used about 3.5 tablespoons of oil. Read about moyan in the earlier section.
4. Slowly add little water, and knead the mixture into a slightly stiff and smooth dough. The amount of water needed may vary, the dough should not be dry or too soft. Keep in mind that as the dough rests, the semolina will swell and tighten the dough too so dont make very hard dough to begin with. 
5. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let it rest for about 30-35 minutes.

Roll The Mathri

6. After resting, knead the dough 2-3 times on a flat surface. Divide the dough into equal parts and roll each part into a ball. I made about 19-20 small balls.
7. Take one dough ball and using a rolling pin, roll it into a small disc, approximately 2.5 inches in diameter. Roll mathri to around ⅛ to ¼ inch thickness (image 13). The cracked, uneven edges denote the traditional appearance of this snack. If you want, you could use a cookie cutter to cut a round.
8. Poke the rolled-out mathri with a fork or a toothpick on both sides. This prevents the mathri from puffing during frying and also helps in even frying.

Tip - Avoid rolling atta mathri too thick. Their texture is different from the all purpose ones and if rolled too thick, they will get hard while slow frying.

9. In the same manner, roll all the dough balls. Keep the previous ones covered with a damp cloth as you go.

Tip - At this point, you can fold the circle mathri into a triangle shape if you like a triangle shape.

Deep Fry

10. Heat oil for deep frying in a deep pot (dutch oven, iron kadai or similar) over medium flame. To check temperature of the oil, drop a small piece of dough into the oil; if it rises to the surface, the oil is ready. If the dough sits at the bottom or takes long to rise, the oil is cold. If the dough sizzles to the top, the oil is too hot.
11. Carefully slide 3-4 mathris from the side of the pot into the hot oil.
12. Fry them until they turn golden brown, turn on both sides for even cooking. This should take about 6-7 minutes for each batch.
13. Don't brown the mathri too much. Once they appear pinkish brown, using a slotted spoon pick them up from the hot oil and drain on a paper towel to remove excess oil. The mathri will continue to brown in residual heat and will turn darker.
14. Allow the mathris to cool completely. Store them in an air-tight container at room temperature for several weeks. Enjoy with chai !

Air Fryer Mathri

Air fried mathri has a slightly different texture than deep fried. They were dense and slightly chewy. However they are definitely a good alternative to fried ones.

• Preheat your air fryer to 375F.
• Brush oil on both sides and place the mathri in a single layer in the air fryer basket. I lined the basket, however, it started flying so I took it out.
• Air fry for 10-15 minutes. Flip them halfway. These start burning at the edges very quickly, so start checking around 8-9 minutes.
• Let cool completely and enjoy!

Recipe Tips

• Mathri Thickness - Thicker mathris turn out chewy, while thinner ones may become too crispy.
• Adjust the amount of spices as per your liking. You could use spices of your choice. Add Kasuri Methi or add dry achar masala for a achari taste.
• Avoid using ground spices (like cumin podwer or red chilli powder) in the mathri dough. Since we deep fry these for long period on low heat, the spice powders tend to burn and your mathris will have black specks/burnt look.