Tell me more ×
Seasoned Advice is a question and answer site for professional and amateur chefs. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 0 down vote favorite

Namkeen Mathi/Mathri translates to salty, chewy, and crisp biscuits in English.

http://www.tarladalal.com/Namkeen-Mathri-10381r

Ingredients
2 cups plain flour (maida)

Method
2. Add just enough water to the flour mixture and knead into a hard dough.

  • How hard should the dough be so that the resultants biscuits are chewy NOT HARD?
  • Why can't pure Wheat flour replace Maida since the recipe asks for a hard dough?

http://goodethnicveggiedelights.blogspot.in/2011/05/mathri-traditional-indian-namkeen.html

Recipe Ingredients
* Semolina (suji) - 1/3 cup

Above recipe asks only for Maida, but this one (for the same dish) asks for Semolina as well.

  • What would addition of Semolina do to the Namkeen Mathri?
share|improve this question
Your first link isn't loading for me, but from the copy on archive.org, I see that the first step is "Sieve the flour, salt and crushed peppercorns in a bowl, add 2 tbsp melted ghee and rub between your palms until it resembles breadcrumbs." so it's fairly similar to the second, just the difference in flour and seasoning. The second does also say "not too hard and not too soft" so your question of "how hard?" is a good one. – Jefromi♦ Jan 19 at 16:08

1 Answer

up vote 3 down vote

If your dough has little cracks on it on the sides when you roll out balls from it or doesn't easily sink in when you press it with your finger as bread dough does, its hard dough. Normally, the folds on a hard dough don't easily mix in. This image shows how a hard dough looks like.

Namkeen Mathri usually tastes like the cover for samosa with added salts and spices. Using wheat is also okay. But definitely tastes better with Maida instead of wheat.

Mathris are usually rolled on semolina before they are fried to give them little extra crunch and grainy texture.

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.