This was the most frequently done salted snacks in my family. The old lady might have lessened the frequency of frying "nimki" these days, but this was the best way to shut our mouths asking for outside food for the next few days. "Nimki" still happens to be an affinity for me. It makes for an interesting snacks for the family too, specially the youngest member enjoys this in the midst of all that alluring fries & fritter packets competing in the market. Yes, I do allow him or rather a little indulgent about having outside food with moderate restrictive measures. Because our parents never allowed us hawker stall food, I can understand a child's wishes, disappointments. We must listen to their wishes too. Can you imagine, we were not allowed any biscuit other than Britannia Marie, Cream Cracker until my 20's. Dadu used to carry so many varieties of biscuits on his weekend trip to that district town in Nadia, I particularly liked Nice. Way later, the parents allowed Priya coconut cookies, Britannia little hearts, Parle krackjack in our home, may be when I started attending college; that too rarely.
I mean it caused me irritation at times when variety food besides rice & chapati meals in our home meant again home cooked "naru, moya, nimki, pithe, shingara, payesh." I cannot remember a single incident in our life when we four dined out until we siblings started earning and treated our parents. The thought is quite irritating that the father only visited restaurants when his friends arranged, he never took initiative. If it was his call, then it was dhabas where he did not take his family much. If he went anywhere for day long, the mother had to pack food in different boxes. We did not have a car then that he would take us to a dhaba in the outskirts of the city. Our DumDum neighbourhood had a couple of Dhabas not suitable for families to sit & eat. They made heavenly dal tarka which either of the parents would pack & get home often, yes they loved it. On any of our tours, we would have such meals because the parents avoided rice meals outside home. Do you think they would ever step into a proper restaurant even while on tours? That is why the brother and me keep eating outside, keep changing brands of cosmetics.
One thing is true & important to note; because our parents are / one is still miser, controlled; they enever had to stoop low in front of anyone, to lay their hands in front of anyone in life. Any wife has to understand the husband's capability; stand strong by him and not let him stoop low in th wish to compete with a well off neighbour. Wrong are those women who instead of earning accuses their husband of not earning enough. So, you know why I so loved potato wafers then but not anymore? Because we were allowed chips once every one or two months may be. When asked for chips, our mother fried jars of nimki single handedly without any help. She would get her kerosene run stove to the bedroom so that she could sit and fry them; simultaneously teach the brother. Our homes use nigella seeds for flavouring nimki; I used golmorich / crushed black pepper this time to prepare this Bengali, salted snack GOLMORICH FLAVOURED NIMKI! Rest, it only requires refined flour, a bit of salt & oil for this yum evening snack to be made.
Believe me I wished to prepare today's share with a healthier gluten free flour. I am not getting any millet flour, not even my favourite brands of wheat flour locally. Pillsbury Atta seems to me too refined to be called what India means by "atta." Even millet packets are scarce, I am getting 250gm from here, 500gm from there whenever they are seen. I cannot live on salads; I do not know what to do if they stop coming at all. Even in the early next month, I am not so keen on visiting the Indian supermarket. South Asians are most likely to flock there in hundreds and I am a diabetic who wishes to see her daughter-in-law or even the live-in partner. The husband does not stop me from doing anything; if I go there he would get angry.
Okay, Sunday is not the day I would want to chat with my readers. My fungus affected plants are waiting for me to spray a detergent solution, I will go out to get lunch for the family. If I ask the man to order online, he gives the responsibility to the son whose orders are weird; mumma thinks it is not value for money. She has to go, this way she exercises control on the finances alloted to her. No, I do not let the man go out at all. There is hardly any romance, love in this. He is the prime who has to feed six stomachs. If anything happens to him, I can still feed the family, how to bear the huge medical expenses? How to bear the expenses of my child's education. That is prime to me / us; we cannot shatter his dreams. We keep discussing these while watching movies & web series. When I say my job is done concerning the son, he needs you more now; he gets upset perhaps, starts shouting at me which other girls may consider abuse; I do not. There is nothing more truth than this to this fear monger. I go out or may be at an hour like 7pm I ask Cristine to get the flour tin, we together start doing a Bengali evening snacks, GOLMORICH FLAVOURED NIMKI. If you are doing it alone, it takes time. How could the grandmother, mother, most of the elderly Bengali ladies used to do it in bulk during Bijoya Doshomi, others for Diwali I wonder.
INGREDIENTS :
REFINED FLOUR : 11/2 COFFEE MUG
CRUSHED BLACK PEPPER : 11/2 TSP
SALT : 3-4 PINCH
OIL : 2 TBSP + 1 TBSP + 150 ML approximately to fry
You can use ghee for kneading the dough instead of oil.
PROCEDURE :
Take the refined flour, salt, black pepper in a wide mouthed bigger bowl & mix well.
Add 2 tbsp oil to it and fold in well. Then rub well for 3-4 minutes.
Add water little by little and knead to form a firm dough. Add 1 tbsp oil again to the dough.
Knead it again for 2-3 minutes.
Cover it with a moistened, clean piece of cloth and refrigerate for an hour. Take it out.
Knead it again for 2-3 minutes. Tear off smaller portions and smoothen between palms.
Now we have to roll them round as we do for chapati; not too thin, neither too thick.
Now with a blade or knife, cut lengthwise strips keeping a gap. Cut into smaller pieces further. My diamond shapes do not get perfect.
Dust a plate with flour to store.
The most important part of this snack is the frying aspect. I have learnt it after several mistakes. We will not fry them in hot oil, they will burn & soggy.
We have to fry them for a longer period at a very low heat to get them crisp; always we are to adjust the heat & even switch off the gas oven at times and again switch on after a minute.
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