Chaak Salt free Matharies from Northern India
Chaak
Yashoda Gupta (Mamta's mum)
Pictures: A professional cook making Chaaks for a wedding
Note from Mamta: Chaaks are a kind of salt free Matharies, that are usually made to order or bought for weddings in our part of India, Uttarakhand and Uttaranchal, especially in our family. They are made as snacks for the guests that used to come to stay for many days. They were also added to the boxes of sweets that were given to each guest at departure.
How many Chaaks this recipe will make depends on the size you make. They are generally between 6 to12 inch in diameter, but can be made smaller or larger. In my childhood, they used be huge, but perhaps that is just my memory playing tricks! The smaller ones, the size of a poori, are easier for everyday use; see the last picture.
Edited February 2024
Ingredients
1 kg. plain white flour or maida
200 gm. oil for making pastry type of dough (moyan)
1-2 litre oil for deep frying
Instructions
Sieve flour in a large bowl.
Add the oil and rub with your hands and fingers until it looks like bread crumbs. When you squeeze a little of it in your palm, you should be able to make a crumbly ball. This can be done in a food processor too.
Now slowly add water, 1-2 tbsp. at a time, and keep kneading it until it makes a stiff dough. If your dough is soft, you will get soft Chaaks, which are useless! They need to be extremely crisp. The dough can also be made in a food processor/with dough hook.
Now take a small portion of dough at a time and roll to make into round balls of about 2 inch/5cm. diameter. Keep covered with a moist cloth.
Roll out each ball into a circle of about 1/2 cm thickness.
Decorate as in picture. This can be done by pinching edges and making depressions with your fingers/fork. This stops them ballooning up during frying. If they balloon, they will become soft like Poories.
Heat oil, but not smoking hot. When you put a test piece of dough in the hot oil, it should sizzle and rise to the top SLOWLY, not fast.
Fry a few at a time on low heat. Longer it takes for them to fry, crisper they are.
Take out with a slotted spatula and spread on a newspaper or cloth. This will absorb surplus oil.
Once Cold, keep in an airtight container. They will last for a couple of months at room temperature.
Serve with a selection of pickles.
