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Thattai recipe

By swasthi , on August 17, 2020, 39 Comments, Jump to Recipe

Thattai recipe with video & step by step photos. Thattai are popular deep fried Indian Snacks made with rice flour, urad dal flour, salt and herbs. These crunchy rice crackers are from the Tamil cuisine and are also known as thattu vadai. During the festive season thattai & murukku are made in most South Indian homes as festivals are incomplete without fresh homemade delicacies.

thattai recipe

Thattai are known as Nippattu in karnataka and chekkalu in Andhra. However all these 3 are different in texture and taste as they are made with different proportions and ingredients.

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Each home has their own recipe of making these to suit their personal preference. This recipe yields light, tasty and crispy thattai that you can make for a tea time snack.

Making perfectly crunchy traditional rice flour snacks begins with rinsing the rice well, draining and drying. Then milled to flour as the fresh ground flour enhances the aroma & texture of these snacks.

To make thattai and murukku, I follow the same traditional method & make rice flour at home using raw rice during festivals. However this time I have made these using store bought rice flour.

If you have a helping hand home then I suggest making thattai with homemade rice flour as they taste the best.

If using store bought rice flour make sure you use the one from an Indian brand preferably South Indian brands. There are tons of varieties of rice flour available in the market – made with long rice, sticky rice, glutinous rice, boiled rice etc.

Many of these do not work well to make these rice crackers. Unknowingly I had tried these snacks a few years ago with different kinds of flours and they turned out to be soft within hours.

So the key to tasty and crunchy thattai is good rice flour. If you are a beginner, I would highly recommend watching the thattai recipe video and the following the step by step photo instructions.

You may like to check these festive snacks recipes,
Butter murukku
Sweet murukku
Ribbon pakoda
Murukku
Chakli

Preparation for thattai recipe

1. Wash and soak chana dal for 1 hour, drain it completely and set aside.

Wash and soak chana dal

2. Roast urad dal or peanuts on a low to medium flame till golden. Cool completely. If using peanuts, then remove the skin.

Roast urad dal

3. Add roasted dal and fried gram to a blender jar. If using peanuts, first powder the fried gram very fine. Then add peanuts and make a coarse powder. You can also powder sesame seeds and use.

Add roasted dal and fried gram to a blender jar

4. I used urad dal & fried gram so i made a fine powder together.

fine powder

Making dough

5. Add rice flour, urad dal and fried gram flour, salt, red chili powder, drained chana dal and sesame seeds. Sometimes sesame seeds splutter while frying, so make sure they are lightly crushed.

Add rice flour
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6. Add curry leaves and butter.

Add curry leaves

7. Mix up gently to incorporate the butter and then add water little by little. Do not pour lot of water at one time.

mix

8. Make a stiff and non sticky soft dough.

non sticky soft dough
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9. Divide the dough to 14 to 16 balls.

Divide the dough to balls

How to make thattai

10. Spread a dry cloth. Grease your fingers. Begin to make thattai by flattening the dough ball.

make thattai by flattening the dough ball

11. Flatten the dough as much as possible. You will see the balls begin to crack towards the edges. That is just fine, join up the cracks. Grease your fingers as needed. You can also flatten these with the base of a greased steel bowl or a greased lid. I am comfortable making these with fingers as the thattai turns out even with fingers.

Flatten the thattai dough as much as possible

12. Make these thin as shown in the picture. Too thin thattai will break while you lift and too thick ones will not turn crisp. So make them moderately thin.

Make thin thattai

13. Heat oil in a deep kadai. When the oil is hot enough, drop a small flat piece of dough to check if the oil is hot enough. The dough should come up and not sink to the bottom.

Slide thattai in the hot oil from the sides. Take cake while you slide it. Flip and fry on both sides until golden. You can fry more than one thattai at one time if there is enough space in the kadai.

frying thattai in hot oil
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14. The bubbles begin to reduce when they are well fried. Drain them to a kitchen towel. Cool them completely. They will look very oil as soon as you remove them from oil but then nothing much would be on the surface or in the thattai.

Drain them to a kitchen towel

Storing thattai

thattai

Now comes the very important part of storing them well. Not only the method of preparing thattai even the way they are stored is very important to keep them fresh and crispy for many days.

Do use a clean and moisture free air tight container. I use air tight stainless steel containers to store thattai, chakli, murukku.

Do not leave them too long to the air/fan/ air con once they are cooled down. As soon as you notice them cooled transfer them to the jar.

Thattai should be completely cool before moving to the jar. These keep good for 2 weeks.

thattai recipe
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thattai recipe

Thattai recipe

Thattu vadai or Thattai are crisp fried rice crackers from Tamilnadu cuisine. These are eaten as a snack with tea and is mostly made during festivals like diwali & krishna jayanthi.
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For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card

Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Servings15 thattai
AuthorSwasthi

Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )

To roast and powder

  • 1½ tsp urad dal or 1½ tbsp peanuts

Ingredients for thattai

  • 1 cup rice flour
  • 1 tbsp butter (unsalted)
  • 2 tbsp fried gram or roasted gram or pottukadalai
  • 1 tbsp chana dal or bengal gram (soaked for 1 hour)
  • 1 tbsp sesame seeds (crushed, optional, use fresh)
  • ½ tsp red chilli powder (use 1 tsp for spicy)
  • ¼ tsp asafoetida or hing
  • Salt as needed
  • 1 sprig curry leaves chopped finely
  • Water as needed
  • Oil for deep frying as needed
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Instructions

Preparation

  • Wash and soak chana dal for 1 hour. Drain and set aside.
  • Dry roast urad dal or peanuts until lightly golden and cool them. If using peanuts, remove the skin.
  • Add urad dal to a blender jar along with fried gram. Make a fine powder. If using peanuts, then powder fried gram very fine, then add skinned peanuts and make a coarse powder. You can also powder sesame seeds.

Making thattai dough

  • To a mixing bowl, add rice flour, urad dal & fried gram powder, red chili powder, hing, salt, sesame seeds & chopped curry leaves.
  • Drain the soaked chana dal and add it to the bowl.
  • Also add soft butter & mix all of them well to incorporate the butter.
  • Pour little water and begin to mix everything to make thattai dough.
  • Add more water as needed and make the dough.
  • Dough has to be non sticky, stiff and smooth.
  • Too moist dough will make your thattai greasy as the excess moisture will soak up oil.
  • Next too little moisture in the dough will make the thattai crack a lot while spreading the dough and make them hard.
  • Taste the dough and add more salt if required.
  • Divide the dough to 14 to 16 balls. Keep it covered.

How to make thattai

  • Heat oil on a medium flame in a wide kadai.
  • Spread a dry cloth, grease your fingers.
  • Place a ball on the cloth or greased sheet.
  • Begin to spread them moderately thin.
  • Very thin thattai will break when you remove from the cloth. Very thick ones will not turn crisp.
  • If the edges begin to crack then join them together.
  • Make as many thattai as possible till the oil heats up.
  • Check if the oil is hot by dropping a tiny flat piece of dough. It should rise and not sink.
  • Transfer one thattai at one time to the hot oil.
  • You can fry more than one thattai at one time if there is space in your kadai. But do not crowd them as they will not fry properly.
  • Make sure the flame is set to medium high. Low flame will make them oily and high flame will brown them.
  • Flip them when fried on one side. Flip as needed to both the sides and fry until evenly golden & crisp.
  • When they are fried fully, bubbles will begin to reduce in the oil.
  • Drain them on a kitchen tissue.
  • Repeat frying them in batches.
  • When they cool down, transfer them immediately to a tight air tight container.
  • Serve thattai as a snack. They keep good for about 2 weeks if fried in fresh oil.
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Notes

To prevent thattai from turning soft and to keep them crisp for many days, make them as thin as possible, Fry them on a medium high heat until crispy. Transfer them immediately once cool down to an airtight jar / box.
If you plan to offer this as naivedyam then replace chilli powder with pepper.
Urad dal is added for flavor and to make the thattai light, you can also use peanuts.
Do not over fry them for long time on a low flame they turn hard.

Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.

For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.

Video

Video of thattai recipe

NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)

Nutrition Facts
Thattai recipe
Amount Per Serving
Calories 75 Calories from Fat 27
% Daily Value*
Fat 3g5%
Cholesterol 2mg1%
Sodium 8mg0%
Potassium 33mg1%
Carbohydrates 10g3%
Fiber 1g4%
Protein 1g2%
Vitamin A 55IU1%
Vitamin C 2.7mg3%
Calcium 8mg1%
Iron 0.4mg2%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Tried this recipe?Mention @SwasthisRecipes or tag #swasthisrecipes!

© Swasthi’s Recipes

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About swasthi

I’m Swasthi shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthis recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthi’s Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills.
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Comments

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  2. Meena says

    November 21, 2020

    5 stars
    This recipe was amazing! Made thattai for the first time ever this Diwali and my family really enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      November 23, 2020

      Welcome Meena
      Glad to know!
      Thanks for leaving a comment

      Reply
  3. tamilselvi says

    November 12, 2020

    5 stars
    Hi swasthi the thattai is very good thank you so much šŸ’–ā¤šŸ’•

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      November 12, 2020

      Hi Tamilselvi
      Glad to know. You are welcome!

      Reply
  4. tamilselvi says

    November 12, 2020

    5 stars
    Hi swasthi the thattai is great thanks you ā¤šŸ’–

    Reply
  5. tamilselvi says

    November 12, 2020

    5 stars
    Hi swasthi the thattai is good.

    Reply
  6. Soundarya says

    August 23, 2020

    5 stars
    Your recipies are great. Your recipies helped me learn cooking. Thank you very much for inspiring me to cook better!

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      August 24, 2020

      Welcome Soundarya
      Glad to know!
      Thank you

      Reply
  7. Sujatha says

    August 16, 2020

    5 stars
    Tried this thattai! Came out well , super recipe thanks Swasthi..

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      August 17, 2020

      Welcome Sujatha
      Glad to know
      šŸ™‚

      Reply
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  9. Preethy says

    August 13, 2020

    Can pottukadalai be replaced with something else? Pottukadalai is not available in the place I stay.

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      August 13, 2020

      Hi Preethy
      I haven’t tried with substitutes. Fried gram makes them light. I have a similar recipe you can check it Chekkalu. These are more crispier than thattai

      Reply
      • Preethy says

        August 13, 2020

        Thank you

        Reply
  10. Vanitha Rathod says

    May 30, 2020

    Can i use ghee instead of butter?

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      May 30, 2020

      You can use hot oil instead of butter.

      Reply
      • Gayathri says

        June 27, 2020

        Is there a particular reason why one shouldn’t use ghee?

        Reply
        • swasthi says

          June 27, 2020

          I haven’t tried it

          Reply
  11. Ranjini Prabhakar says

    October 21, 2019

    Your Thathai recipe seems interesting. Going to make tomorrow. Thank you!

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      October 22, 2019

      Welcome Ranjini
      Hope you like them!

      Reply
  12. Manisha Tiwari says

    August 22, 2019

    Can I bake these thattai. I would like to try baked version. please suggest.

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      August 22, 2019

      Hi Manisha
      I haven’t tried them baking.

      Reply
  13. Revathi says

    August 13, 2019

    5 stars
    Thank you so much for the thattai recipe. I made them and turned out very good. Making another batch today. Good work.

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      August 15, 2019

      Welcome Revathi
      Glad to know! Thanks for the comment.

      Reply
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  15. Prakash Iyer says

    July 12, 2019

    Hi,
    I tried the recipe for making Thattai at home.The test was good but it lost crispness within 2 hours of storage in airtight container.
    All steps were taken religiously.
    Kindly suggest any precaution(s) to ensure that thattai remains crisp for many more days and enjoyable :
    Prakash Iyer

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      July 12, 2019

      Hi,
      As I mentioned in the post, thattai turns soft for several reasons.
      1. Frying them in oil that isn’t hot enough.
      2. The quality of flour.
      3. Not frying thattai for long enough.
      4. Frying them on a high flame will brown them too quickly but they don’t stay crisp for longer.
      If you have followed all these steps and yet your thattai isn’t crisp for longer then i would say it should be the flour. I suggest refrying them in oil to make them edible.
      Hope this helps.

      Reply
  16. Shama says

    July 3, 2019

    4 stars
    Very practical.

    Reply
  17. Krithikavedhachalam says

    November 7, 2018

    Perfect recipe,it came out really well,texture was so nice
    It looked crunchy but was very comfortable to eat
    Really a big thanks and wishes

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      November 8, 2018

      Hi Krithika
      You are welcome. Glad to know thattai turned out good. Thanks for the comment.
      šŸ™‚

      Reply
    • Aswini says

      July 29, 2019

      Hi Swasthi,
      I tried this thattai today. Perfect recipe. Came out very well. Thank you for the recipe.

      Reply
      • swasthi says

        July 29, 2019

        You are welcome Aswini,
        Glad your thattai turned out good. Thank you so much!

        Reply
  18. Umaravichandran says

    November 6, 2018

    5 stars
    Very nice and explained very clearly.well done

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      November 6, 2018

      Thank you

      Reply
  19. Jayanthi says

    October 26, 2018

    When i make thaatai it to soft but not crispy what should I do please tell me the recipe

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      October 26, 2018

      Hi Jayanthi,
      Thattai becomes soft if you fry them when the oil is not hot enough or if you make them thick. They must be as thin as possible and must be fried in hot oil on a medium high flame. Try this recipe it will turn out good.

      Reply
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  21. siva says

    July 3, 2018

    5 stars
    Fantastic recipe, Very easy nicely explained.
    Tried it and it came very well. Thank you for the recipe.

    Reply
  22. Rehma says

    January 19, 2018

    Long back I searched for this recipe. I dint find here so dint try anywhere?. This I’m gonna try it. Akka my sons birthday is coming up. We are planning veg menu for 3 families . You know my cooking skills so please suggest me some very simple menu ?? please Thank you

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      January 22, 2018

      Welcome Rehma,
      Yes I can mail the menu for you by evening.

      Reply
      • Rehma says

        January 22, 2018

        Thank u so much akka

        Reply
  23. Suriya says

    August 23, 2017

    5 stars
    That’s such a wonderful recipe.. well explained.. gonna try fa sure.. cheers šŸ™‚

    Reply

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