Mathri recipe with step by step photos – mathri or mathiya or mathari is a popular snack in north India and there Are many versions of making mathari.
This recipe is for Punjabi style mathri which is flaky and is spiced with ajwain (carom seeds), kali mirch (black pepper), kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves) and jeera (cumin seeds).
Many people like to have these spiced flour crackers with tea or as a snack. Once made in bulk you can store them in an airtight container and enjoy it for the next few weeks. So the shelf life is long.
I made both fried and baked mathari. texture wise, of course, the fried mathri is definitely better, but the baked one is good too. They are a little less golden than the fried ones and have a faint denseness. But good for a low-calorie option. The first pic above is of the baked mathiya and the last pic below is of the fried mathiya. The baked mathiya are flaky but not as compared to the fried ones.
I usually make mathri for the occasion of Karwa Chauth vrat. In Punjabi families, the ladies break the rigorous vrat or fasting by eating mathri. You can check more about this vrat in this detailed post of Karwa Chauth vrat recipes.
How to make mathri recipe
Making dough
1. first heat the ghee or oil. Take the hot ghee or oil (known as “Moyen” in Punjabi language) and the dry ingredients in a bowl – Maida or all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, all the spices and baking soda in a mixing bowl.
2. mix everything well and rub the fat evenly in the flour with your fingertips. The whole mixture should resemble breadcrumbs. The more you do this, the more better texture the mathris will have.
3. you will see the mixture can be gathered together like shown in the pic below.
4. just add 1 or 2 tbsp of water each time and only mix the dough. Don’t knead like a roti or poori dough. Only mix the water in the dough. I used 6 tbsp water and this amount was enough to bind all the dough together and gather into one ball. If the dough is kneaded than the flaky texture is lost. Cover the dough and keep aside for 30 mins.
Making mathari
5. heat oil for frying in a kadai or pan. Pinch small balls from the dough. Just roll them lightly in your palms to even them. No need to give them a proper round shape etc.
6. flatten each ball with a rolling pin or Belan to medium thickness. Prick each mathari with a fork. The jagged uneven edges are alright and this is how they are meant to be. In case you want a smooth finish, then use a biscuit or cookie cutter. Roll a large piece of dough and cut with a cookie cutter.
7. fry about 4-6 mathri is medium hot oil till crisp and golden…. Tips mentioned on the hotness of oil in the recipe card above.
8. Drain them on kitchen paper towels to remove excess oil. Fry the mathri in batches. when cooled then store them in an airtight box. The shelf life for mathiya is long. I think its more than a few weeks. I cannot tell you how many weeks or months the mathari stays well because it does not last that long in our house. For baking method, please check the recipe card above.
Serve Punjabi mathri with tea or as a snack.
Some more Diwali snacks
Mathri
Ingredients
- 2 cups maida (all purpose flour) + ½ cup atta (whole wheat flour) or 2.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoon ghee or 3 tablespoon oil
- 5 to 6 tablespoon water or as required
- 2 teaspoon ajwain (carom seeds)
- 2 teaspoon black pepper - crushed coarsely or kept whole if you prefer
- 2 teaspoon kasuri methi or dry fenugreek leaves
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 pinch asafoetida (hing) - optional
- 1 pinch baking soda, optional for frying but do add if baking the mathris
- salt as required
- oil for deep frying
Instructions
making dough for mathri
- First heat the ghee or oil. Take the hot ghee or oil and maida, whole wheat flour, all the spices, salt and baking soda in a mixing bowl.
- Mix everything well and rub the fat evenly in the flour with your fingertips. The whole mixture should resemble breadcrumbs. The more you do this, the more better texture the mathris will have.
- Just add 1 or 2 tbsp of water each time and only mix the dough. Don't knead like a roti or poori dough.
- Only mix the water in the dough.
- When the whole mixture can be easily clumped or gathered together into a ball, cover and keep aside for 30 mins.
rolling mathari
- Heat oil for frying in a kadai or pan. pinch small balls from the dough. Just roll them lightly in your palms to even them. No need to give them a proper round shape etc.
- Keep the balls covered so that they do not dry out.
- Flatten each ball with a rolling pin or belan to medium thickness.
- Prick each mathari with a fork. The jagged uneven edges are alright.
- In case you want a smooth finish, then use a biscuit or cookie cutter. Roll a large piece of dough and cut with a cookie cutter.
frying method to make mathri
- Check the hotness of oil before frying the mathris.
- Drop a small piece and if comes to the surface gradually, then the oil is ready.
- If it comes to quickly, then the oil is very hot and the mathris will brown from out but remain uncooked from inside and will become soft.
- If it comes slowly, then the oil is cold. Result would be the mathris would absorb a lot of oil and become dense due to over frying.
- Fry them in medium hot oil till crisp and golden.
- Regulate the flame between low to medium if required.
- Drain on kitchen paper towels and when cooled store them in an airtight box.
- Prepare and fry them in batches.
- Serve these flaky spiced punjabi mathri with ginger tea or masala tea as an evening snack.
baking method to make mathri
- Preheat your oven to 180 degrees c.
- Prepare the circular mathri as mentioned above.
- Place in a pan or tray and bake for 20-30 mins or till light golden.
- After 10-12 minutes, turn over the mathri for even baking and browning.
- If even after 20-30 minutes the mathri are not baked, then bake for some more minutes.
- Please keep an eye on the baking as oven temperatures differ in various models and brands.
- Remove and cool on a wire rack.
- Once cooled, store the baked mathiya in an airtight container.
Notes
- You can increase or decrease the spices as per your taste buds.
- If you plan to bake the whole dough, then consider adding 1 to 2 tbsp more oil or ghee in the flours.
Hello Dassana & Amit,
Awesome recipes and great detailed step by step instructions. Love your website and all the wonderful work you guys are doing.
thanks a lot ashima. glad to read your comment. happy cooking.
Hello Mam….
I have tried many of your recipes and all have good taste. They turn out just the way you have described.
Regarding mathri…wanted to know if we can use fresh fenugreek leaves instead of dry?
thanks. yes you can use fresh fenugreek leaves. reduce the water a bit when adding fresh fenugreek leaves as they will leave some water in the dough.
Hi dassana how r u , wish u and your family Happy Diwali and Happy New year , I had made these mathris last year following your recipe and again this year I am making it just now I always adore u and ur recipes they r just perfect thanks a ton for your efforts.
thanks you bhavana for this lovely comment. wish you and your family a happy diwali and new year. also thanks for the review on mathri recipe. happy cooking for the festival.
What is the shelf life of these mathris ?
stays good for more than a month.
Thank you so much . then can i only take wheat flour?
welcome aafrin. yes you can only use whole wheat flour. you may need to add some more water if using whole wheat flour.
Looks really tasty. but maám can i take rice flour instead of maida?
with rice flour, the recipe cannot be made.
hi dassana, happy diwali to u n ur family..i m regular reader of ur blog it is fantastic n easy to understand. i have tried so many dishes which made my family happy..thanx n god bless u..
thank you much kanchan. also wish you and your family a happy diwali.
Hi
Awesome & easy recipe….thanks a lot for posting this…this was the first snack recipe that I tried…it turned out great….everyone loved it a lot and the bowl got emptied within minutes:-)
pleased to know this neha, thanks for your kind words and positive views 🙂
Hi,
I have never attempted preparing any snacks recipe like this….this evening m going to try this..hope the mathris will come out good…but m really nervous…hoping for the best…fingers crossed
i hope the mathris were good. do let me know.
Tried this recipe today! The mathris came to be good. My daughter loved them. Thanks for sharing!!
pleased to know this shradha 🙂 glad your daughter loved the mathris and thankyou for your honest words.
I doubled the recipe and changed the measurements accordingly but my mathris are becoming soft.they are not remaining crisp even immediately after taking out of the kadahi .)they are soft . what may I have done wrong 🙁 ?
i think the change in the measurements have not worked. could also be that the dough has become soft. if the dough becomes soft, then the mathris will have a texture like that of pooris. you can add some more flour and make a tight dough.
very nice to see but its serve hot with aloo bhaji
TOday i’ll going to try mathri frst tym. thnk u fr the blog 😀
welcome mishti
Tried it and methi one also both turned out awesome
thanks for sharing
welcome rakhee. glad to know this.
I tried these and they turned out really well. A very simple recipe that leads to yummy mathris… Thanks for sharing. 🙂
welcome jaspreet. thanks for sharing positive review on mathri.
I like mathri but I don’t found recipe ,today ‘i win now I try D’s evening.Thank you for upload D’s recipe 🙂
welcome wisha
I like the mathri.i thanksfull to you.thanx
welcome pawan
Hi Dassana,
It was so wonderful to come across your blog and to note that you’ve recently gone vegan as well. Yaay!
How does one veganize this recipe? Should I add hot oil instead? Would you also let me know the temperature at which to bake this mathri if I want an option to frying it? And can you provide the recipe for the pickle to eat this mathri with?
glad to see your comment here preethi. now when i make mathris or the flat crisp puris, i just add oil. in fact i make flaky tart pastries with oil now. i use organic sunflower or sesame oil. add the oil to the flour and then just mix it with the flour. work through your fingers, so that the whole mixture looks like breadcrumbs. the longer you do this process, the flakier will be the mathris. also avoid over kneading. you can skip baking soda if you want. the dough should not be moist or soft but firm.
i bake the mathris for at 180 degrees C. bake for some 9-12 minutes. keep any eye. last time i had overbaked and extra browned mathris 🙂
i have already shared the punjabi mango pickle recipe.
hi Dassana
i tried Mathri snacks at home, it is so crunchy and crispy as in your descriptive pics, its looks soooooo yummieeeee. bt there is problem- that it becomes so salty coz i added more salt…
what should i do now
have you fried the mathris. if not then add some more flour with some more water and a little bit of oil/ghee proportionately & knead again. check for the salt and add more flour if required. if you have fried them, then there is nothing that can be done 🙁
mathris are my all time favorite snack ….
instead of maida can i use wheat flour again & at what temp & how long should i bake these ?
hi shruti, you can use only wheat flour and make these… make the mathris a little thick if you are baking. what usually happens with me is that when i bake them, they become hard. you can bake them at 180 degrees c for some 25-30 minutes or till golden browned. all the best.
for baking(10-12mins at 170-180C) i made thin mathris, like you said it’s hard, don’t know how to soften it. so i baked very few. i fried the rest in sesame & coconut oil separately, came out well. i rolled out thin discs…will try triangles next time. thanks ! happy diwali in advance 🙂
mine too always come hard. so i have stopped baking them. what i had done was last time when they became hard, i added them to some sweet almond milk flavored with saffron and cardamon and then had them as a dessert. the savory taste of the mathri with the sweet almond milk is quite a unique combination. you can also use regular milk.
wish you too a happy diwali shruti.
I am planning to make soon as I make every year in Diwali. Your mathri looks so crispy and crunchy.
I hope I get to see the moon on time this year. The last two years I broke my fast at 11:30 at night .. crazy it was 🙂 I was fried some and sat for blog hopping and saw this out here!
These Mathri’s look absolutely delicious. Usually we make them little thicker and we don’t add cooking soda. I should definately try your recipe….
Looks absolutely inviting….good to know that u r back with ur camera 🙂 I can totally understand ur plight without ur camera…:)
hi Dassana.. is cooking soda different from baking soda..can i make mathris without using it..
they are one and the same, suhani. you can make mathris without it. you can also add baking powder instead of baking soda.
hi Dassana
i tried Mathri snacks at home, but its not as crunchy and crispy as in your descriptive pics, someone said to add ammonia bicarbonate instead of baking soda, bt i never heard of it befor. plz let me know how can i made such crispy and crunchy mathries as u made in this recipe. its looks soooooo yummieeeee.
it is sodium bicarbonate. it is the chemical name of baking soda. i think the person must have mistakenly forgotten the name. we never add baking soda when making mathris.
to get the right texture, the ghee added to the flour should be in the ratio of 1:5 of ghee to flour respectively. also the flour should be kneaded with less water and must be a little hard. knead very well. thats it and you can make good mathris at home. in fact when i made them some extra water fell and hence the bubbles on the mathri.
You can make out they are crisp! Been looking for a mathri recipe. Though this is thinner than what we get at the local store, they look yummier.
i made them thinner than the ones available outside. i have to replace these pics as soon as i make the next batch in the monsoons.
Amazing Snaps and very good description dear..
thanks so much for this recipe i was fed up of searching for he proper recipe as the ones we get in the shops are yuck to taste finally i will be making these today itself all ingredients ready
These look lovely. I like ajwain a lot. Unfortunately, I have fear of frying so only eat fried things in restaurants, but I’m going out for an Indian meal to celebrate Diwali tomorrow night. They’ve promised us free sweets with our meal and rafts of lights. Can’t wait.
thanks sharyn. you could even bake these. they will taste more like baked crackers.
enjoy the diwali celebrations…
D I never cooked in my life. And now when I cook the first thing is to check your blog. I am really glad that I found your blog. LOVE your recipes. Makin mathri right now !!!!!!
amrita, glad to know this. i hope you become a good in cooking. hope the mathri turns out good.