mathri recipe (mathiya or mathari)

making dough for mathri

1. First heat the ghee or oil. Take the hot ghee or oil and maida, whole wheat flour, all the spices, salt and baking soda in a mixing bowl.

2. Mix everything well and rub the fat evenly in the flour with your fingertips. The whole mixture should resemble breadcrumbs. The more you do this, the more better texture the mathris will have.

3. Just add 1 or 2 tbsp of water each time and only mix the dough. Don't knead like a roti or poori dough.

4. Only mix the water in the dough.

5. When the whole mixture can be easily clumped or gathered together into a ball, cover and keep aside for 30 mins.

rolling mathari

1. Heat oil for frying in a kadai or pan. pinch small balls from the dough. Just roll them lightly in your palms to even them. No need to give them a proper round shape etc.

2. Keep the balls covered so that they do not dry out.

3. Flatten each ball with a rolling pin or belan to medium thickness.

4. Prick each mathari with a fork. The jagged uneven edges are alright. 

5. In case you want a smooth finish, then use a biscuit or cookie cutter. Roll a large piece of dough and cut with a cookie cutter.

frying method to make mathri

1. Check the hotness of oil before frying the mathris.

2. Drop a small piece and if comes to the surface gradually, then the oil is ready.

3. If it comes to quickly, then the oil is very hot and the mathris will brown from out but remain uncooked from inside and will become soft.

4. If it comes slowly, then the oil is cold. Result would be the mathris would absorb a lot of oil and become dense due to over frying.

5. Fry them in medium hot oil till crisp and golden.

6. Regulate the flame between low to medium if required.

7. Drain on kitchen paper towels and when cooled store them in an airtight box.

8. Prepare and fry them in batches.

9. Serve these flaky spiced punjabi mathri with ginger tea or masala tea as an evening snack.

baking method to make mathri

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees c.

2. Prepare the circular mathri as mentioned above.

3. Place in a pan or tray and bake for 20-30 mins or till light golden.

4. After 10-12 minutes, turn over the mathri for even baking and browning.

5. If even after 20-30 minutes the mathri are not baked, then bake for some more minutes.

6. Please keep an eye on the baking as oven temperatures differ in various models and brands.

7. Remove and cool on a wire rack.

8. Once cooled, store the baked mathiya in an airtight container.