This Punjabi style Namak Para or Namak Pare are crispy, spiced and savory fried bites made with wheat flour, spices, fat and seasonings. These are a popular snack across North India that you can make as a tea-time snack or for festivals like Diwali.
Sieve the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, baking soda and salt together.
Add the carom seeds, crushed black pepper, cumin seeds and salt. Mix these spices and seasonings with the sifted ingredients.
Add the oil or ghee. Add water in parts and start to knead the dough.
The dough should not be soft, but firm and tight. Cover and set aside the dough to rest for 30 minutes. You can either cover the bowl with a lid or place a moist kitchen towel on the dough.
Making namak pare
Take medium sized balls from the dough. Roll them to a neat round ball between your palms. Place one ball on a lightly dusted floured surface or rolling board.
With a rolling pin, roll into a disc or round neither too thin nor too thick and about 3 to 4 mm thick.
With a serrated knife cut criss cross patterns on the rolled dough.
Remove the diamond shaped patterns and deep fry them in hot oil till crisp and golden browned.
Keep the cut pieces of dough covered with a kitchen towel, so that they do not dry out.
Drain them on paper napkins to remove excess oil. Fry the remaining namak pare or diamond cuts in batches.
Once they cool at room temperature, then store them in an airtight jar. These keep well for a couple of week when stored in an air-tight container or jar.
You can serve Namak Pare with tea or as a snack.
Notes
Add water in parts when kneading to make a stiff and firm dough. Do not make it soft like a roti or chapati dough.
You can opt to use only all-purpose flour or only whole wheat flour to make the dough.
Deep fry in a moderately hot oil until crispy and golden. A lesser hot oil will make the namak para absorb too much of oil. If the oil is very hot, the namak pare will get browned faster from outside and the inside dough can be undercooked.
Leave out the spices for making only a salted version of namak para. Alternatively you can add ground spices and herbs like red chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, crushed fennel seeds, nigella seeds and dry fenugreek leaves.
If you want to bake namak pare, add 3 to 4 tablespoons oil or ghee to the dough. Place the raw cut dough pieces on a baking tray. Preheat oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes. Bake at the same temperature for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden and crispy. Turn over the namak pare pieces if needed halfway through the baking.
This recipe can be scaled to make a smaller serving or a larger serving.