Besari

Name: Besari
Yield: 8 besaris
Cuisine: Thathai Bhatia (Sindhi)
Ingredients: 2 cups refined flour (maida); 1 cup whole wheat flour (atta); 4 tbsp oil; 30 ml water (add a little more if the dough feels dry); 1 tsp turmeric; Salt, to taste; 1 pinch asafoetida (hing); 1 tbsp dried pomegranate seeds (anardana); 1 tbsp carom (thymol) seeds (ajwain); 1 tbsp coriander seeds (partly ground); 1 tbsp peppercorns (ground); Oil, for frying (as needed)

Savoury crisp fried discs

Makes8 besaris

Timeabout 1 hr 30 min

Small, thick (about ½ cm) puri-like discs of spiced wheat dough, slit with a knife and deep-fried until crisp and golden. A dry, long-keeping, savoury-spicy (tikho, taraylo) snack flavoured with turmeric, ajwain, coriander seed, pepper and pomegranate seed; any-time snack, usually at teatime.

Method

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In a paat (mixing bowl/vessel), mix the refined flour, whole wheat flour and salt.
Add all the spices, the 4 tbsp oil and the water, and knead to a semi-soft dough.
Divide the dough into 8 equal portions.
Flatten each portion and roll it with a rolling pin into a small puri-like disc, about 2 inches across. Keep it thicker than a puri — about ½ cm.
Make slits in each besari with a knife.
Heat the frying oil in a kadai (deep frying pan) on a medium flame. When hot, deep-fry the besaris until crisp and golden brown.
Drain off the excess oil and let them cool.
Store in an airtight container and serve when required.

My notes

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My notes on Besari

Serve with

Any-time snack, usually served at teatime; eaten with pickle or Gajari Mirchiyun, or plain.

Recipes mentioned here

Gajari MirchiyunCarrot and green chilli relishChutneys, pickles & drinks

Nutrition

Estimated

Per besari

350 kcal

Protein: 7 g
Carbohydrate: 45 g
Fat: 15 g

The recipe makes 8 besaris.

Whole recipe

2,760 kcal

Protein: 55 g
Carbohydrate: 358 g
Fat: 123 g

Everything in the ingredients list, plus the oil soaked up in frying.

These are estimates, worked out from the amounts in the recipe and typical values for each ingredient. Portion sizes and the exact amount of oil, ghee or sugar can change them a lot. For deep-fried food we count the oil the food soaks up, not the whole pan of oil. How we estimate

Good to know

Shelf life about 3 weeks (airtight).

Where this recipe comes from

Recipe from Panja Khada by Bharat and Deepa Chachara.

See the original recipe and photos