Papads & sides · Loar

Kheechio / Kheechay jo Besan

Name: Kheechio / Kheechay jo Besan
Yield: about 13–15 kheechas
Cuisine: Thathai Bhatia (Sindhi)
Ingredients: 1 kg rice flour; 50 g pappad soda (pappad khar); 2 tbsp salt; 2 tbsp cumin seeds; 2 tbsp red chillies (coarsely pounded — see step 4); 3 litres water; 2 tbsp oil, for greasing (steel plate and rolling pin); Oil, for deep-frying; For the roasted version: a teaspoon of melted ghee, plus chopped tomatoes and chopped coriander leaves to taste

Rice-flour poppadums (kheechas)

Makesabout 13–15 kheechas

Timeabout 1 hr 30 min

Sun-dried discs (kheechas) rolled from a cooked, kneaded rice-flour dough that is seasoned with cumin and coarsely pounded red chilli and bound with pappad-khar [alkaline pappad soda] water. They are later deep-fried until crisp and puffed, or roasted over live coal, as a lunch accompaniment.

Ingredients

Make

1 kg rice flour
50 g pappad soda (pappad khar)
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp red chillies (coarsely pounded — see step 4)
3 litres water
2 tbsp oil, for greasing (steel plate and rolling pin)
Oil, for deep-frying
For the roasted version: a teaspoon of melted ghee, plus chopped tomatoes and chopped coriander leaves to taste

Method

Tap a number to tick off a step.

Put the water with the salt and pappad khar into a pan over medium heat.
When it boils, lower the heat to a simmer until the salt and khar dissolve.
Strain the liquid through muslin [fine cotton cloth] and bring it back to a boil.
Lower the heat to a simmer and stir in the rice flour, the coarsely pounded red chillies and the cumin seeds.
Keep stirring until the mixture is thick and dry.
Transfer the mixture to a greased steel plate.
While it is still warm enough to handle, knead it until smooth. Do not let it cool, or it will not roll.
Divide the dough into 13–15 small balls and, with a greased rolling pin, roll each into a small disc. These discs are the kheechas.
Dry the kheechas in the hot sun on a plastic sheet.
When completely dry, store them in an airtight container until needed.

My notes

Your family’s way with this recipe, or a reminder for next time. Kept on this phone or computer, and shown in cook mode.

My notes on Kheechio / Kheechay jo Besan

Tips and variations

The same dough can make Kheechay jo Besan.

Serve with

Usually served as an accompaniment for lunch. Two ways to cook them: Deep-fried: fry in oil until crisp and golden; they puff up and roughly double in size. Traditional roast: roast over live coal — this takes practice because they burn easily. Top the roasted kheechas with a teaspoon of melted ghee, chopped tomatoes and chopped coriander leaves.

Recipes mentioned here

Kheechay jo BesanPressed rice-flour strandsPapads & sides

PappadBhatia poppadum (plain pappad)Papads & sides

Nutrition

Estimated

Per kheecha

370 kcal

Protein: 5 g
Carbohydrate: 59 g
Fat: 13 g

The recipe makes about 13–15 kheechas.

Whole recipe

5,210 kcal

Protein: 67 g
Carbohydrate: 824 g
Fat: 175 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

Dried kheechas keep up to 6 months. Pappad soda and pappad khar are the same thing.

Where this recipe comes from

Recipe from Panja Khada by Bharat and Deepa Chachara.

See the original recipe and photos