Another Diwali Post, a savory one. These crackers are crunchy, delicious, baked and glutenfree. The usual Namak paare (salty crackers) are made with whole wheat flour or a combination of wheat flour and semolina. They are thick wheat crackers spiced with Carom seeds-Ajwain and black pepper. They are deep fried and served along with the sweets to guests who come visit during the festival. The festival has a couple of celebrations spread over some days. Many days for visiting friends and family and days to eat and eat. It starts off with Dussehra(harvest festival and victory day celebration) then Hoi Ashthmi (Celebrating Children- the kids always get to eat Black Chana masala, plain nut free Sooji/Semolina halwa and Deep fried Puri flat bread) and Diwali over 2 days and more after that too.
These crackers are based on Potato Murukku,which is thick noodle type snack. This same soft dough is pushed through a noodle/cookie press type thing, directly into the heated oil and fried till crisp.
I used the dough and made these crisp baked crackers instead. They taste like Murukku/Murukulu, look like Paare, look all pretty with the turmeric hue, and make for fun munchables.
I make small quantities of things to post, so I can make other variations and keep posting:) else we end up with containers full of things to finish:)
From the archives, GF Chickpea Mathri crackers here.
Mash the potato. Add oil if using and mix it in.
Mix brown rice flour, salt, spices, baking powder and add to the potato and mix it into a crumbly mixture.
Add a teaspoon of water at a time to make a soft dough. I needed only 2 teaspoons.
Water needed will depend on the moisture content of the potato and flour used.
Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.
Place the dough on parchment and press a bit with your hand.
Dust some brown rice flour on top and roll it out with light pressure into as thin as possible.
Cut the rolled out dough using pizza cutter into squares or diamonds. Use a fork to prick a few holes in the crackers.
Bake in preheated 370 degrees F for 15 minutes.
Take the crackers out, break them apart and bake for another 8-10 minutes.
Crrrunnchh
Baked Namak Paare- Savory Potato Rice Crackers
Allergy Information: Gluten, Dairy, egg, soy, corn, nut, yeast free
Makes a 4 inch bowl full. Easily doubled, multipled.
Ingredients:
1 small potato – boiled, peeled and mashed. About 1/4 cup
1/4 cup Brown Rice flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon Coarsely ground Black pepper
1/2 teaspoon Carom seeds(ajwain) or cumin seeds
a generous pinch of turmeric powder
a generous pinch of baking powder
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil (Optional)
2-3 teaspoons water
Method:
Mash the potato. Add oil if using and mix it in.
Mix rice flour, salt, spices, baking powder and add to the potato and mix it into a crumbly mixture.
Add a teaspoon of water at a time to make a soft dough. I needed only 2 teaspoons.
Water needed will depend on the moisture content of the potato and flour used.
Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.
Place the dough on parchment and press a bit with your hand.
Dust brown rice flour on top and roll it out with “light” pressure into as thin as possible. (Keep dusting more flour to avoid dough sticking to the rolling pin and breaking apart).
Cut the rolled out dough using pizza cutter into squares or diamonds.
Use a fork to prick a few holes in the dough.
Place parchment on baking sheet and Bake in preheated 370 degrees F for 15 minutes.
Take the crackers out, break them apart and bake for another 8-10 minutes until crisp to touch.
Cool and store in airtight container.
These crackers are being shared at Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Allergy Free Wednesdays, Ricki’s Wellness Weekend, Healthy Vegan Fridays
Caitlin says
November 7, 2012 at 8:41 pmi have always been a cracker lover and these look fantastic!! they look perfectly crispy and i love the color! also, i love that mashed potato is the base.
Richa says
November 7, 2012 at 8:45 pmi ove the potato in them too. they taste like fusion potato chips:)
Joey says
November 7, 2012 at 9:13 pmNow that’s clever stuff – I like that the binding is potato rather than fat or oil. I can eat a load of these and not feel too mad about it!
Richa says
November 8, 2012 at 4:47 ami already ate a load of these:))
Vicky says
November 8, 2012 at 1:58 amI love these! Would they work with sweet potato do you think?
Richa says
November 8, 2012 at 4:47 amthey might taste slightly different.. but should work!
Misty says
November 8, 2012 at 3:14 amJust dropping by, and I love to try this recipe Richa. I love crackers and other snacks! But I think, I’d have to add more turmeric/curcumin powder to it. Just to add more spice. 🙂
Richa says
November 8, 2012 at 4:47 amSure, add any spice to taste.
Manali says
November 8, 2012 at 5:56 amShould def try these munchies…:)
Richa says
November 9, 2012 at 1:22 amyup.. these are super easy to throw in the oven:)
Easy (EZ) Editorial Calendar says
November 8, 2012 at 6:06 amThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
narf77 says
November 8, 2012 at 9:46 amThese look fantastic and easy…thus making this recipe a must bake in the near future. As we ramp up into spring and are getting closer and closer to our Australian summer we are choosing to eat lighter meals and learning to make my own crackers is a great skill that will help towards making summer meals more interesting 🙂 Thank you for your amazingly inventive vegan recipes. Who says that we are missing out?!
Richa says
November 9, 2012 at 1:22 ami dont know why people say that.. coz i am eating so much more fun stuff since the diet change:) i think you can add these small crackers to a a salad too. like a crackery version of a tortilla strip salad:)
Kristina says
November 8, 2012 at 2:45 pmOoo I’ve been wanting to make my own crackers! These look so yummy! And love love love that theres no dairy or gluten, these sound perfect
Richa says
November 9, 2012 at 1:21 amThanks Kristina. these are super easy. let me know if yo try them:)
Sunday Morning Banana Pancakes says
November 8, 2012 at 5:35 pmMmmmm these look like they would be perfect all on their own or with a bit of hummus- I need to start experimenting with cracker recipes!
Richa says
November 9, 2012 at 1:21 amWhen i get bored of eating breads as snack i have to munch of salt filled crackers!:)
ANU says
November 8, 2012 at 7:08 pmvery nice and yummy snack….beautiful clicks dear…
“DIWALI FOOD FEST” Nov 1th to Nov 30th
“Bake Fest #13” Nov 1th to Nov 30th
SYF&HWS – Cook With SPICES” Series
South Indian Cooking – July 15th to Sep 15th
Richa says
November 9, 2012 at 1:20 amThanks Anu!
Karen's Vegan Kitchen says
November 8, 2012 at 7:31 pmWhat gorgeous little crackers. I’ve gotta make some! Love the potato addition and the fact you don’t use AP flour…
Richa says
November 9, 2012 at 1:20 ami think i threw out my ap flour about 1 year ago 🙂
vedgedout.com says
November 8, 2012 at 7:48 pmI’m all about homemade crackers at the moment, I think these might get a cheesy makeover! My kids are still pining over goldfish crackers…
Richa says
November 9, 2012 at 1:20 ami like the way you think 😉 though making goldfishes might be difficult with this soft gf dough.. simple shapes will work best:)
Kristy says
November 14, 2012 at 7:03 pmSomer, you need to try this recipe: http://chefchloe.com/on-the-side/vegan-goldfish-crackers.html (Sorry Richa, for posting someone else’s recipe on your cracker post!). The twins were very distraught over not having goldfish crackers anymore, so Sophia and I made these. They were delicious and they were gone in about 36 hours. They’re time consuming, but your daughter would have a blast helping you. 🙂
VeganFling says
November 8, 2012 at 10:39 pmI could go for some of these crunchy crackers right now! They look so fun, and sound like they would be great with some hummus or other dip.
Richa says
November 9, 2012 at 1:19 amwe dint wait to make hummus:) they are oo addictive and now i have to make another big batch!
Allana says
November 9, 2012 at 12:51 amWow…I totally agree, these crunchy crackers would be divine with hummus (oh hummus, how I love thee?) I’m thrilled they are homemade and GF…making these asap 🙂 For a cheesy rendition, I wonder…can nutritional yeast take a role in the cast of ingredients?
Richa says
November 9, 2012 at 1:18 amsure, nutritional yeast and a little mustard powder will give it that cheddary taste!
Andrea says
November 9, 2012 at 6:55 pmI love the way the crackers look, and they sound so delicious. I’m wondering — did you bake them right on the paper? I can’t imagine you could remove the paper but am just double checking.
Richa says
November 9, 2012 at 7:02 pmyes, i just moved the parchment onto a sheet and baked them. After 15 minutes, they easily came off the parchment to break up. the dough is too soft and crumbly to be able to remove from the sheet once rolled.
Richa says
November 9, 2012 at 7:01 pmThis comment has been removed by the author.
Annie says
November 9, 2012 at 7:24 pmI want to snarf those right up!
Shira says
November 10, 2012 at 4:13 amRicha this recipe looks INSANE! Deep down I adore crackers and never find anything I truly love. I’ve also never made my own with any great success either! Pinned for a later date! Thanks!
christine says
November 13, 2012 at 6:24 pmthese look totally wonderful – I want some ……. now!!!!! I love Indian snacks, but many are deep fried, so I don’t bother, but these, wow, I shall make some very soon:) thank you
Kristy says
November 14, 2012 at 7:04 pmThese look so addictive, Richa! I imagine they get eaten up pretty quickly. The photography is just exceptional too, as always. 🙂
Anonymous says
December 19, 2012 at 8:32 amwill the recipe work if i use jowar flour instead of rice flour? Thanks in advance.
Richa says
December 21, 2012 at 12:33 amyou might need a bit more or less. give it a try. 🙂
Anonymous says
December 25, 2012 at 1:00 pmI tried the recipe using white rice flour. It tasted good right out of the oven. After a couple of hours though it turned chewy and inedible. I don’t know what went wrong.
Richa says
December 25, 2012 at 10:44 pmMaybe there was some extra moisture and it needed to be baked slightly longer? I havent tried white rice flour. there are several varieties of white rice too, so it really depends. these crackers stay crispy. the last batch i made lasted about 3 days. in one batch a few were just a teeny bit soft and probably chewy later because they were the center crackers which dint bake enough.
mamapasta says
December 28, 2012 at 8:04 pmI did them ( in French), delicious with a dip….
the day after I re-heat them in the oven and they turn crispy again
dleirer says
June 5, 2013 at 4:49 pmLove this recipe.Today I tried squishing the dough into muffin tin compartments (instead of rolling the dough out and cutting). They turned out great and baked evenly because in just had a small amount of dough in each compartment. Thanks, Richa.
Diane in Bloomington, In.
9042bb04-d793-11e2-8595-000bcdca4d7a says
July 23, 2013 at 11:24 pmWould it be okay to deep fry or shallow fry these? My oven is broken but I want to make these namak :”( please advise?
Richa says
July 23, 2013 at 11:47 pmI havent tried frying them. Make a dryer dough for frying. Let me know if you do try. thanks
Purvi says
October 29, 2013 at 1:23 amHi Richa, would this work well with another flour (may be oat or garbanzo bean) in place of brown rice flour?
mita says
October 30, 2013 at 11:29 pmthanks for the recipe , much needed
Artophoria says
March 6, 2014 at 3:55 amPotato and gluten free..
Oh, these crackers looks great!
Thank you for sharing..
Can I subtitute white rice flour for brown rice flour?
Richa says
March 6, 2014 at 5:25 amyes you can 🙂
Kristin says
September 15, 2014 at 1:52 amWhat type of potato works best? Russet? or a waxy potato? These definitely look great!
Sonny says
September 20, 2014 at 8:30 amI tried these with nutritional yeast, black pepper, cummin and paprika. They were absolutely delicious. So much tastier than store bought biscuits. Highly recommend. Easy to make and versatile. Thanks so much for posting the recipe and for easy to follow instructions. 10/10!
Rachel says
July 13, 2016 at 11:36 amThese are delicious. Thanks for the great recipe. I had to bake them about 8 minutes longer than directed to get them crispy. Are you supposed to bake them on a cookie sheet or place the parchment paper directly in the oven?
Richa says
July 13, 2016 at 12:17 pmThe bake times would depend on the thickness of the crackers. I bake them on parchment lined baking sheet.
Nicole says
January 31, 2017 at 7:30 amI made them with a garnet yam, just uuked until soft.
Just fabulous!
Thank you!
Lynley says
December 14, 2019 at 4:55 pmThank you for another delicious recipe. I have made the deep fried version of this before and I was desperate for a healthier version. I find rolling between two sheets of parchment paper makes the process super easy and mess free. No sticky dough or roller and super thin too. I also added some puréed green chillies and cumin seeds for extra flavour.
Lynley says
December 14, 2019 at 5:42 pmI also bulked up the recipe. 3 potatoes yielded 2 cups of potato mash. I added 2 cups of rice flour and 2 teaspoons of baking powder. I found that when the dough hasn’t been rolled thin enough, it won’t peel off the parchment paper easily. I didn’t roll one batch of dough thin enough so I put it back in the oven for 5 more minutes before I flipped the diamonds.