Aata Namak Pare / Savory Indian Tea Time Snack Recipe

Namak Para also known as nimki is a crunchy savory Indian tea time snack. This flaky ribbon like snack is called kharat shankarpale in Marathi and sometimes referred to as matar or matri in Punjabi. Usually Namak Pare are made using refined flour/maida seasoned with salt and spices like cumin or carom seeds and are deep fried. I have made them with aata (whole wheat flour) and flavored with Nigella seeds (kalonji) and salt. These crunchy flaky ata namak pare are super addictive and taste great when paired with adrak wali masala chai. Namak pare are also preferred snack during festivals like Diwali, Holi and Karwa chauth. With an easy to follow recipe, this 5 ingredient snack can be easily made at home within 30 minutes.

Video Recipe for Atta Namakpare

Kharat Shankarpale, as we refer this aata namak pare has been my favourite snack since childhood. Post marriage also I make this snack often as both Kiran and Chinmay love them as well and no matter however big batch I make of this namak pare, they are bound to vanish within a couple of days. Previously i used to make them with all purpose flour, but now since i have stopped buying maida completely, i make them with whole wheat flour. No doubt, the maida namak pare look more appealing than the ones made with whole wheat flour but considering the health factor , i prefer the later ones and best part is that the ata namakpare taste good equally. 

In the above picture you can see the namak pare made using maida. It is an old pic from this blog which I had published in 2015, during my initial blogging days.  I have updated this post today with new pictures and written content. I have not changed the original recipe only replaced refined flour with whole wheat flour. I have many such old posts where the photography is dull and the recipe is not up to the mark. Such posts need to be updated with new pictures and written content. Thanks to Renu, my dear friend and a fellow blogger who came up with a Facebook group, Foodies_Redoing Old Posts as an initiative, wherein we bloggers can update our old posts with either new pictures or written content or both every two weeks. This is my 8th entry into this event (17th October). here i have updated the post with both new pictures and written content.
                                           
These Namak pare can be easily made at home and can surely replace the store bought chips packets. The recipe is very easy and it  requires less time to deep fry these Namakpars, compared to the sweet version of this snack, Shakkarpare. This snack is also a part of my Diwali Faral for sure. This is my mom's recipe. She adds Kalonji / onion seeds which gives a nice distinctive flavor to the namak para and they look more appealing. Those who do not eat Onion , can replace kalonji with coarsely crushed black pepper or cumin or carom seeds . Namak pare have a good shelf life and they can be stored at room temperature in an air-tight container up to 15 days. Before moving ahead with the recipe, lets have a look as to what exactly maida or white flour is and why its regular consumption is considered harmful to our body.

What is Maida ?
White flour or maida is the refined flour that is processed from the whole wheat flour. During the processing of white flour from wheat , a substance called endo sperm is removed from the wheat germ including the wheat bran, which is very important for our digestion. Apart from that all the essential nutrients too gets lost during the processing.

Is maida becoming a part of daily diet?
Food made with maida or white flour is very tempting but it is not healthy and may drastically harm our health leading to weight gain. The use of white flour and its products are rapidly increasing in our daily lives. We consume it in the form of bread, pizza, cake, pastry, pasta, donuts, momos, kulcha, bhature and the list just continues.

Harmful effects of regular consumption of Maida :
Regular consumption of white flour can lead to the conditions like fatty liver, raises bad cholesterol in your bloodstream resulting in several health issues such as high blood pressure, weight gain, mood swings and progression towards obesity. Click here to know more as to why we should avoid regular consumption of refined flour.

                           

Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients: Measurements used 1 Cup = 250 ml

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup ghee/ clarified butter
• 1 tbsp of onion seeds / Kalonji/ Nigella seeds
• Salt to taste
• Oil for deep frying

Method:

1. In a mixing bowl take the whole wheat flour. Add salt and onion seeds to it. You may add carom seeds and crushed black pepper as well if you wish. Mix well. 

2. Now add hot ghee to it and blend every thing very well with your fingers until it appears like bread crumbs. You should be able to bind the flour by applying light pressure with your fist.

3.  Now knead the flour to dough using little water at a time to make a soft dough. The dough should be little firm than what we make for chapati. Cover the dough and keep aside at room temperature for 10 minutes.

4.  Make 3 - 4 equal portions of the dough and roll out each portion into a thin chapati without applying flour . Now using a sharp knife make long ribbon shape pieces of it. You may make small diamonds also if you wish to. 

5.  Heat oil in a deep frying pan on a medium to high heat, lower the flame to medium and fry the ribbons in small batches until golden pink in color. Remove them on absorbent paper and transfer into air tight containers on cooling.

                            

6. Serve the delicious and healthy aata namakpare with tea or enjoy them as it is with your loved ones.

Recipe Notes:

• To make this snack vegan, replace ghee with oil.
• You may add around 2 tablespoon semolina/suji to the whole wheat flour before kneading it to a dough.
• Carom seeds, cumin seeds or crushed black pepper may be used to flavor the namak pare.
• The namak pare stay good at room temperature in an air tight container for around 15 days.

If you ever try this recipe, do share your feedback with us in the comment section below. Follow us on #Facebook, #Instagram, #Twitter, #Pinterest and #Google+ for more recipes and new updates. 

For more whole wheat flour recipes from this blog, click on the following links:

• Thekua

                            

• Whole wheat flour mathris

                            

• Whole Wheat Cumin Biscuit

                             

• Baked whole wheat floour meethi (sweet) mathri

                             

• Whole Wheat Vegetable Stuffed Buns

                             

• Whole Wheat Vegetable Momos