CRISPY NIMKI

A calm and quiet evening, cool breeze, a cosy warm couch, fine Darjeeling tea, I and you and a bowl full of crispy nimki / savoury snacks; sounds romantic, na? Yes, it definitely does; with a helper and a modern cooking range, it does sound romantic. This was not the case some 30 years back. As kids, we have seen our moms and grand moms sweating while managing everything single handedly. Then frying them on a small oven called stove with the fans off was definitely a tedious job. This was not the scene at our home alone, but in almost every household....In an average middle class home, homemade food was a natural choice. Not only that, preparing any special recipe in bulk and distributing it in the neighbourhood  had been a part of our culture. The entire neighbourhood used to be an extended family kind of. As we grew up, living in shelled cocoons, that fine culture died. We hardly know whats going on in the surroundings. Anything beyond 'Hi' n 'Hello' is considered as 'Unwanted Interference'.

Lets go back to our childhood, starting from the last day of Durga Pooja until Diwali, the custom was to visit the friends and relatives to greet each other. During this period, in every household, the elderly women would lock themselves happily in the kitchen preparing a variety of  sweets and snacks. Two of them were a must do..... NIMKI [salty crisp Snacks] and NARU [sweet coconut balls]. Nimki was served with tea and a plateful of home made sweets followed whoever visited.

My childhood memories of any festival relates to my maternal grandparent's home. Being born there and brought up in the lap of my grand mom, being the only child in the family at that time, I was extremely pampered by my maternal uncles n aunts....I may have physically distanced from them in life's due course but the old memories linger on. I vividly remember our Grandma's kitchen....where the big clay oven was on since the morning until the night time. The short statured lady had immense energy....she is nearing 90. On my recent visit to Kolkata, I was lucky enough to spend 2 nights with her at our home....and the once high nose expert cook ate whatever I cooked....I got the approval that I can cook well ....Reviving the old memories....I share with you the recipe of CRISPY HOT NIMKIS, the authentic Bengali style snacks which is a perfect tea or coffee time pleasure in the afternoons & evenings.

INGREDIENTS :

All Purpose Flour : 2 big cups
Nigella Seeds : 1tbsp
Oil : 1 small tea cup + 2tbsp
Ghee [Clarified Butter] : 1tbsp[for a nice aroma]
Salt : 1/4tsp

METHOD :

Take the flour in a bowl. Add 2 tbsp oil, 1tbsp ghee, 1/4tsp salt and the nigella seeds. Rub very well with your palm for about 3-4 minutes. Now add water little by little and keep on rubbing till a soft yet firm dough is formed. This will take about 10-12 minutes. It will appear as below.

Now cover the dough with a soft wet cloth for about 1/2 an hour. This helps the oil to get absorbed well and the dough becomes softer but not soggy.

Now tear the portions to make medium sized balls and flatten with your palms. Dust each balls with flour and shape into round chapatis with the help of a rolling pin and base. Once the chapatis are rolled, slit lengthwise and cut each strip into a diamond shaped NIMKI; just as shown below.

Transfer into a tray....they may stick to each other. Do not worry at all, once you add them to the hot oil, they get separated. Now add a cup of oil to the wok. Once the oil is warm, reduce the heat to the minimum. Fry the NIMKI in batches. They should get enough space to move around. Fry until golden yellow. Place on to tissue papers first to get rid of the excess oil and then to a serving bowl. Once cold, transfer into an airtight container. It stays crispy up to a week. We need not refrigerate it. Remember, we have to constantly reduce and increase the heat as required while frying. Your HOT CRISPY NIMKI is ready to be served with your favourite brand of tea / coffee.