Khara Kaddi is what we call it in both our homes. These spicy, crunchy sticks have always been part of Mom’s Diwali cooking, and they find their place on the Christmas Kuswar platter too. It is lovely when something so familiar carries from one family celebration into another.
This is Amma and Mom’s simple Bejai-style recipe. I use the thicker sev attachment to make it the way I know it from home. Mai, Nishal’s mom, makes hers with the same thickness, so there is that familiar bite in the Crasta home as well. You can use the thinner attachment if that is what you prefer.
I made the batch in this reel after a long work day and enjoyed the making as much as the finished kaddis. A few basic ingredients, the sev maker and a dabba ready to be filled. Once they have cooled, break them into sticks, or keep them whole and break them just before sharing.
Equipment
- Chakli/sev maker with a thick sev attachment, or a thinner attachment if preferred
Khara Kaddi (Bejai-Style Spicy Sticks)
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 2 cups besan (gram flour)
- 2 tbsp rice flour
- 1½ tsp ajwain (carom seeds), or jeera (cumin seeds) if you prefer
- 1–2 tsp chilli powder
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- Salt to taste
- Water, as needed to knead a soft dough
- Coconut oil, for frying, with a ladleful of the heated oil reserved for the dough
- A little oil, for greasing the chakli/sev maker
Instructions
Method
- Heat the coconut oil for frying over medium-low heat.
- Mix the besan, rice flour, ajwain or jeera, chilli powder, turmeric and salt in a bowl.
- Add a ladleful of the heated oil to the dry ingredients. Mix with a spoon first, then rub it through the flour once cool enough to handle. This helps make the kaddis crisp.
- Add water gradually and knead into a soft dough. Check and adjust the seasoning as you mix.
- Fit your preferred sev attachment into the chakli/sev maker, grease the maker and fill it with a portion of the dough.
- Carefully press the dough directly into the heated oil. Fry over medium-low heat until the bubbling becomes gentler, then turn and cook the other side.
- When most of the bubbles have subsided and the kaddi is golden brown, lift it out and drain on paper towels. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Allow to cool completely, then store in airtight dabbas. Break into sticks before storing, or break them just before serving to friends and family.
Notes
- The thicker attachment gives the Amma and Mom's Bejai-style kaddi shown in the reel. Mai makes it with the same thickness.
- A thinner sev attachment can also be used. Watch the colour and bubbling rather than using a fixed frying time.
- Substitute jeera for ajwain if you do not enjoy ajwain's flavour.
- Adjust the chilli powder within the given 1–2 tsp range.
- The original recipe measures the oil added to the dough as a ladleful. No tablespoon or millilitre equivalent is supplied.
For more festive snacks, try Chakuli and Mom’s Poha Chivda.
