Home made traditional savories do have their advantages over store bought ones in terms of freshness, price (costs much less), can be prepared suited to our palate and stored for at least 2-3 weeks. We can never be sure of the store bought ones which most of the time lack the flavor and freshness of home made savories. Inspite of it we find that most homes are going in for store bought savories probably out of sheer convenience. I guess,it’s a personal choice. I ,for one, would prefer to prepare our traditional savories like jantikalu and murukku at home and very rarely pick up store bought ones. Palakayalu are a rice based, dry and crispy snack popular in Andhra. They are a hit with children and sometimes given to teething toddlers who nibble at them to remove the irritation they usually face during teething. They can be made both sweet and spicy.T oday’s recipe is a salted version which is crisp with a slightly sweet flavor. If you want a spicy taste, add a tsp of ground green chilli paste to the dough. Palakayalu Recipe (Rice Based Snack) Ingredients: 2 cups of plain rice flour 1 ½ tsp sugar salt to taste 1 tbsp oil 2 cups water 1 tbsp vaamu (ajwain,omamu,caram seeds) oil for deep frying Add salt, sugar and 1 tbsp of oil to water and bring to a boil. Add the rice flour to it stirring continuously till it forms a thick mixture and turn off heat. Cover and keep aside to cool. Once cool add the vaamu and mix the dough well kneading for 2-3 minutes to form a smooth dough. Make small balls and roll them into (approx 2†) longitudinal shape. Heat oil in a deep frying pan and test the temperature of the oil by dropping a small ball of dough into the oil and if it sinks to the bottom, it means the oil isn’t hot enough. If the ball springs to the top with bubbles all over, it means that the oil is ready to deep fry the palakayalu. Drop the palakayalu (about 20 or so depending on the size of the vessel) gently into the hot oil and keep flipping them over till they are golden brown and crisp. Drain onto absorbent paper and when cool, store the fried palakayalu in airtight containers. Note: Before you start deep frying them, ensure that you shape out the entire dough into longitudinal shapes and keep them covered. Deep fry them batch wise depending on the size of the deep frying pan. Don’t add too many at once. Enjoy a great tea time snack!
