Kalonji Crackers / Baked Nigella Seed Crackers

Homemade Kalonji crackers serve as a delicious snack. This whole wheat vegan cracker with healthy goodness of Nigella (Kalonji/Onion seed) and Sesame seeds is crunchy and flavorful. What's more? I  prefer to bake these crackers over deep-frying making them a guilt-free treat. Did I tell you that these crackers are super addictive? With a very simple and easy to follow recipe and just 5 ingredients, these nigella seed crackers are ready under 30 minutes. They make an excellent tea time snack. We enjoy Kalonji crackers with Beet Hummus as our mid-day snack.

What are Nigella Seeds / Kalonji?

Nigella seeds or the Onion seeds are called Kalonji in Hindi. It is a hard black seed that is used as a spice. It is often mistaken with black sesame seeds due to similarity in color and size. But both seeds are quite distinct. Nigella seed is a part of the five-spice blend or the panch phoran used for tempering in the Bengal Cuisine. It adds a beautiful aroma and a distinct flavor to the dishes. In India dry roasted kalonji is used to flavor curries, dals, stir-fried vegetables, and in savories like samosa, papdis, and kachori. 

                               

Health Benefits Of Nigella Seeds: source

Apart from the aroma and flavor that it adds to dishes, Nigella seed comes with a whole lot of health benefits. It is loaded with trace elements, vitamins, proteins, and fatty acids, volatile oils, iron, sodium, potassium, and calcium.

• Nigella seeds are believed to keep a check on Diabetes.
• Ground Nigella seeds with a little bit of honey boost memory and when taken with warm water it also helps to alleviate Asthama.
• Kalonji seeds also work wonders when it comes to weight loss.
• Kalonji seeds have been used traditionally to take care of dental problems like bleeding gums, swelling, and weak teeth?

What goes into my Kalonji Crackers?

Kalonji crackers are healthy and flavorful crackers that can be easily made at home using just 5 ingredients that are easily available in any Indian Kitchen Pantry. 

• Whole Wheat Flour / Aata: The crackers are healthy as they replace refined flour with whole wheat flour.
• Nigella Seeds: Nigella seeds not only add flavor and aroma to the crackers but also add to its nutritious value.
• Sesame Seeds: Protein and calcium-rich sesame seeds add a lovely nutty flavor to the crackers.
• Oil: Little oil is used while kneading the dough which gives a flaky texture to the crackers. I have used olive oil. You may completely skip it if you wish to.
• Salt: I have seasoned the crackers with rock salt. You may use regular sea salt instead.

You may use dried herbs, crushed black pepper, and spices like cumin seeds or carom seeds to flavor the crackers as a variation to these kalonji crackers. 

All the ingredients are added to a mixing bowl and using little water at a time, the flour is kneaded to a soft dough. The dough is then rolled out into thin sheets and cut into the desired shapes before baking.

Storage: The nigella seed crackers stay good at room temperature for around 2 weeks when kept in an air-tight container.

Serving Suggestions: 

• These nigella seed crackers make a flavorful tea-time snack.
• You can serve them as a mid-day snack with a dip of your choice. We enjoy our crackers with Beet hummus.
• You can pair kalonji crackers with Raw mango preserve or with tomato soup
  

Related Event: I am submitting this Nigella cracker recipe to the A to Z recipe challenge group, a gourmet group on Facebook where I post every alternate month. Members of this group post different food recipes with a key ingredient having a particular alphabet. Owing to COVID 19 outbreak, we took a break from this post and posting here after almost 3 months. As per the alphabetical order, For the month of July, we had to cook a dish starting with the alphabet N. I chose Nigella seeds as my key ingredient and made this guilt-free snack. This post is my 13th contribution to this group. The other recipes I have shared here, so far are

• Kadai Mushroom for alphabet "M"
• Lemon Crinkle Cookies for alphabet "L"
• Minestrone Soup with Kidney beans for Alphabet "K"
• Aliv Kheer / Garden Cress Seeds Jaggery Pudding for Alphabet "J"
• Ivy Gourd Stir-Fry for Alphabet "I"
• Horse Gram Idli for Alphabet "H"
• Punjabi Kadhi Pakora / Gram flour Fritters in Yogurt gravy for Alphabet "G"
  
• Ankurit Methichi Usal/ Sprouted Fenugreek Seeds Stir-fry for Alphabet "F"
  
• Achari Baingan / Eggplant in pickling spices for Alphabet "E"
  
• Dates and Walnut Muffins for Alphabet "D"
  
• Coconut Curry Leaves Chutney for Alphabet "C"
  
• Broccoli Paneer Paratha for Alphabet "B"

                   

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Baking Time: 15 minutes

Serves: 4 dozen crackers

Ingredients: Measurements used 1 Cup=240ml

• 2 cups whole wheat flour / Aata
• 1 tablespoon nigella seeds/ Kalonji
• 2 teaspoon white sesame seeds
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoon oil

Method:

1. In a mixing bowl take whole wheat flour. Add sesame seeds, nigella seeds, salt and oil to it. Mix it well and adding little water at a time knead the flour into a soft dough.

2. Preheat the oven at 180 Degrees Celsius for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, divide the dough into two portions and roll out each dough portion into a thin sheet. You may dust the working surface with little flour. I did not require any. 

3. Cut the dough sheet into the desired shape and poke holes using a fork all over its surface. This step is to prevent the crackers from puffing up while baking. I have simply cut the sheet into long rectangular shaped strips using a knife.

4. Arrange the dough strips on a greased or lined baking tray and transfer it to the preheated oven. Bake the crackers at 180 degrees celsius for 15 minutes. Flips the crakers midway to ensure it gets evenly baked from both sides.

5. The crackers should be crunchy and flaky and break easily on cooling. Allow the crackers to cool down completely before transferring them to an air-tight container. The crackers stay good for about 2 weeks at room temperature.

6. Enjoy the healthy and flavorful nigella seed crackers at tea-time or with your favorite dip as a mid-day snack with your loved ones!

Recipe Notes:

• You may use dried herbs, crushed black pepper, and spices like cumin seeds or carom seeds to flavor the crackers as a variation to these kalonji crackers. 
• The nigella seed crackers keep good at room temperature for around 2 weeks when kept in an air-tight container.
• Little oil is used while kneading the dough which gives a flaky texture to the crackers. I have used olive oil. You may completely skip it if you wish to.
• I have used rock salt to season the crackers. You may use regular salt variety instead.

I hope a few of you would love to try out this recipe. If you do so, feel free to share your feedback with us in the form of likes and comments in the comment section below this post. All your suggestions are also more than welcome. If you like my work and feel it is worth following, do hit the follow button at the top right corner of this blog. Your appreciation means a lot to me. For more recipes and new updates follow us on social media.

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