Fafdaફાફડા
⏱ Prep 15m🍳 Cook 20m🍽 Serves 4🌿 Vegan
Video: HomeCookingShow (YouTube)
On Dussehra morning across Gujarat, vendors set up impromptu stalls and sell hot fafda and jalebi together — the salty, crisp chickpea ribbons against the sticky sweet syrup is one of those combinations that seems accidental but is completely intentional. Fafda is also a daily tea-time snack, eaten with raw papaya chutney and fried green chillies, and the pleasure of making it at home is that the dough comes together in minutes.
📍 Make it in Plano
This recipe is the same everywhere — but where you buy the ingredients and eat the dish is local to you.
Finding Desi spots near Plano…
Ingredients
- ▪besan (chickpea flour / gram flour) — chana no lot2 cups
- ▪carom seeds — ajwain1 tsp
- ▪black pepper, coarsely crushed — mari½ tsp
- ▪turmeric powder — haldi¼ tsp
- ▪baking sodaa pinch
- ▪salt¾ tsp
- ▪oil for the dough1 tbsp
- ▪warm water (added gradually)5–7 tbsp
- ▪oil for deep-fryingas needed
- ▪papad khar (optional — traditional alkali)¼ tsp
🌍 Cooking abroad? Substitutions
- Besan (chickpea flour) is sold as gram flour or garbanzo bean flour at most international supermarkets and health-food stores worldwide; it is also the same flour used for pakoras so any South Asian store will carry it.
- Papad khar is a traditional Gujarati alkali (sodium carbonate + potassium carbonate mix) that gives fafda its characteristic snap; the pinch of baking soda already in the recipe replicates most of the effect if papad khar is unavailable.
- Ajwain (carom seeds) — find them at any Indian or Middle Eastern grocer; they look like tiny caraway seeds with a sharp thyme-like flavour. If truly unavailable, ½ tsp dried thyme plus ¼ tsp caraway seeds is a rough stand-in.
Method
- 1Combine besan, ajwain, black pepper, turmeric, baking soda, salt, and papad khar (if using) in a large bowl.
- 2Rub in 1 tbsp oil with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- 3Add warm water one tablespoon at a time, kneading into a stiff, smooth dough — it must not be sticky. Knead firmly for 5 min.
- 4Divide into 12–15 equal balls. On a clean dry surface (no oil or flour — you need the grip), press each ball flat with your palm and stretch it outward with your fingers into a thin ribbon about 15 cm long and 2 cm wide, with naturally ridged edges.
- 5Heat oil to 160–170°C (keep the temperature low — this is what makes fafda crisp all the way through, not just on the surface).
- 6Fry 3–4 strips at a time, 3–4 min per side, until pale gold. They should NOT brown deeply.
- 7Drain on paper; they continue to crisp as they cool — do not overbrown them in the oil.
- 8Serve warm with raw papaya chutney, fried green chillies, and, if celebrating Dussehra, fresh jalebi.
A Desi.Net original recipe · part of our Indian Cuisine library. Confirm details and adjust to taste.