Low Fat Oma podi

Low Fat Oma podi

I think I have spelt the name incorrectly, but who knows what the correct English spelling for these tamil words is. Anyway, the essence is that this dish has ‘omam’ aka ajwain/carom seeds. It is made with besan i.e. chickpea flour and is a popular snack in India. It is also used as an ingredient in some chat items. We also make mixture by mixing this with a number of other items like ‘boondhi’, ribbon bakoda etc. The speciality of this recipe is that it is low fat and needs no deep frying, meaning it is a time, energy and health saver! My mom used to make these when we grew up and I usually like it fine and more like the north Indian style. Others at home liked it a bit thicker and south Indian style. So she made in two different moulds. I thought it may be a good recipe for this festive season as you can serve this for your guests visiting you at tea time. Here is how I do it...

1 ¼ cups besan (chickpea flour)

¼ cup rice flour

1 teaspoon ajwain
½ teaspoon chilly powder
2 tablespoons cooking oil

Salt to taste

Bring together the rice flour, besan, salt and chilly powder

Grind ajwain seeds and add 3-4 tablespoons water. Filter this water and add to flours. Mix to make them look like crumbles

Heat the cooking oil and add to the flours and mix (mom’s tip – hot oil results in crispy snack)

Add little water and make a stiff dough

Fill your ‘naazhi’ (gun used to squeeze the dough thro’ a mould) and squeeze the omapodis on a baking sheet placed on a baking tray. Air dry this for 10 minutes or so.

Preheat oven to 180degC and bake the omapodi for 10-15 minutes. Depending on whether you like it a bit dark or light in colour, adjust your baking time.

Cool and break them down or keep them intact and serve.

I ground ajwain using mortar and pestle. You can grind in a mixie and use the powder directly. I filtered and used the water because the seeds could have blocked the mould.