Ribbon Pakkoda/Oattu pakkoda - South Indian/Tamil Savoury - I

Ribbon Pakkoda (ரிப்பன் பக்கோடா)/Oattu pakkoda (ஓட்டுப் பக்கோடா):





This is a savoury from Tamilnadu, which is very tasty and easy to prepare:

Ingredients:

1. 4 cups Bengal gram flour,
2. 2 cups Rice Flour,
3. 1/2 cup Butter or ghee,
4. 3 tsp. Salt (diluted in 2 tbsp. of water),
5. 1/2 tsp. Asafoetida/hing powder or solid hing diluted in some water.
6. 3 tsp. Chilli Powder,
7. 2/3 cups Oil for frying,
8. Enough water.

Dough:

Mix the flours with butter, nicely, with your fingertips. Add hing, chilli powder, salt water and mix again. (Retain some salt water. Taste the first batch of the snack and you can add some more, if salt is less). Then add some more water and mix till the dough is like the chapaathi dough. It should not be very stiff or soggy.

Method:

Make a ball out of the dough first and then stretch it a bit, so that it fits the Cookie Press - 'murukku achchu' (M.A.)(முறுக்கு அச்சு) and close the lid.

Pour oil in a kadai/pan and heat it. It should be very hot first. Then slow down the fire and press the dough in the M.A. into the hot oil. Press enough dough, till it covers the oil in the pan. One M.A. dough can be pressed approx. twice. If you press more, it will not get cooked properly. Now keep the fire in 'medium'. When the ribbon is half cooked, turn it once. On the whole, it will take approx. 2-3 mts. for one ribbon to get cooked. When the bubbles die down, and the ribbon is golden brown, take it out and keep it in a drainer/paper napkin for a minute.

Once you start preparing this snack, don't stop, till the dough is finished. If the dough soaks for a long time, the snack will be very oily. Remember to keep the fire 'sightly high' while cooking.

Place some paper napkin or some brown paper at the bottom of an airtight container and store. Nice crispy savoury is ready.

You can reduce the rice flour to 1 and a 1/2 cup too. This will be a bit softer for the teeth!

While pressing the dough into the oil, hold the stem of the M.A. in your left hand and press with the right hand. This machine is very easy to handle.

If you want to prepare more, don't add extra flour to this measure. Prepare new dough. The dough should not soak for a long time.



I prepare this ribbon pakkoda in different ratios and the taste also varies  accordingly:

Variation 1:
 
1. 4 cups Rice flour,
2. 1 and 1/2 cup fried gram flour.
You can grind both the rice and gram together in the outside machine or buy the flours and use them. 

Variation 2:

1. 4 cups Rice flour,
2. 1 cup Bengal Gram flour,
3. 1/4 cup Urad Dhal flour. (the urad dhal should be dry roasted and ground in the mixie and sieved).

Everything else is the same as described in the beginning of the post.  You can differentiate the taste in all the three methods!



Renu, this recipe is for you! Enjoy and give me the feed back!


I updated it today (22.4.13), so that it would be easier to follow! The recipe is the same!