This Punjabi style Namak Para or Namak Pare are crispy, spiced and savory fried bites made with wheat flour, spices, fat and seasonings. These are a popular snack across North India that you can make as a tea-time snack or for festivals like Diwali.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 30 minutes
  • Total time: 70 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Snacks
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

  • 1 cup whole wheat flour ((atta))
  • 1 cup all purpose flour ((maida))
  • 1 teaspoon carom seeds ((ajwain))
  • 1 teaspoon crushed black pepper (- optional)
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (- optional)
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 tablespoons oil (or ghee - I used sunflower oil)
  • ½ to ¾ cup water (or as needed)
  • ½ teaspoon salt (or as required)
  • oil (for deep frying, as required)

Method

Making dough

  1. Sieve the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, baking soda and salt together.
  2. Add the carom seeds, crushed black pepper, cumin seeds and salt. Mix these spices and seasonings with the sifted ingredients.
  3. Add the oil or ghee. Add water in parts and start to knead the dough.
  4. The dough should not be soft, but firm and tight. Cover and set aside the dough to rest for 30 minutes. You can either cover the bowl with a lid or place a moist kitchen towel on the dough.

Making namak pare

  1. Take medium sized balls from the dough. Roll them to a neat round ball between your palms. Place one ball on a lightly dusted floured surface or rolling board.
  2. With a rolling pin, roll into a disc or round neither too thin nor too thick and about 3 to 4 mm thick.
  3. With a serrated knife cut criss cross patterns on the rolled dough.
  4. Remove the diamond shaped patterns and deep fry them in hot oil till crisp and golden browned.
  5. Keep the cut pieces of dough covered with a kitchen towel, so that they do not dry out.
  6. Drain them on paper napkins to remove excess oil. Fry the remaining namak pare or diamond cuts in batches.
  7. Once they cool at room temperature, then store them in an airtight jar. These keep well for a couple of week when stored in an air-tight container or jar.
  8. You can serve Namak Pare with tea or as a snack.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.