This Thattai Recipe is a crispy South Indian snack made with rice flour and urad dal. Traditionally prepared for festivals like Krishna Jayanthi and Diwali, it is also enjoyed as a tea time snack. Follow my step-by-step method to make it at home.
You know how much I love sharing simple recipes — whether it’s traditional Palakkad cuisine, North Indian curries, or air fryer favourites. This Thattai Murukku fits right in. It is one of my favourite most savoury snack along with Cornflakes Mixture and Roasted Poha chivda.
While you can easily buy them from Indian grocery stores or bakeries, nothing comes close to the freshness and flavour of homemade Thattai.
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💛What Makes This Thattai Recipe special?
I learnt this Thattai recipe from my patti (grandma) and have documented it exactly the way she made hundreds of them for the whole family. Simple old times tricks like using curry leaf stem to make holes.
This snack is festive, crunchy, and so fun to make — every last piece is relished at home. The joy of frying a batch fresh and watching everyone enjoy them is truly unmatched. Slightly spiced with chilli powder and hing, these crispies are the perfect partner to a hot cup of chai.
👩🏻🍳Top Tips For Crispy Thattai from My Grandma
- Roasting and sifting the flours is very important to make smooth Thattai. Do not skip this step.
- Pricking the shaped Thattai is essential to prevent it from puffing up while frying.
- Fry the Thattai on low to medium heat to ensure it cooks evenly.
- Curry leaves really enhance the taste.
- Butter can be replaced with hot oil, but too much butter makes the Thattai soggy.
- Soaking chana dal is important for texture and flavour.
- Drop the Thattai into hot oil, then cook on medium-low flame; continue cooking a minute extra even after bubbles stop.
Updating this post from 2010 with better pictures and detailed explanation for you.
💭Did you know? This popular crispy snack is known by many names — Thattu Vadai, Nippattu, Chekkalu, and more — we’ve always simply called it Thattai at home.
📋Ingredients to Make Crispy Thattai
Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
- Rice flour – I’ve used store-bought rice flour for convenience, but homemade rice flour gives the best flavour if you have the time. You can also use idiyappam flour. ( Make sure its really fine)
- Urad dal flour – Make at home with urad dal. (Detailed method mentioned below).
- Roasted gram flour (Pottukadalai flour) – Made the same way as urad dal flour: dry roast, cool, grind, and sieve if necessary.
- Bengal gram dal (Chana dal / Kadalai paruppu) – Adds crunch and texture to the Thattai.
- Asafoetida (Hing / Perungayam) – Brings a lovely depth of flavour.
- Red Chilli powder – For gentle heat and spice.
- Salt – To taste.
- Curry leaves – Finely chopped for aroma and flavour.
- Butter or Coconut oil – Essential for texture. My grandma used hot coconut oil, while I often use butter for its rich flavour. For a vegan version, stick to coconut oil.
- Water – Add gradually while kneading; too much at once can make the dough soft and sticky.
- Optional ingredient - Sesame seeds
🔪How to make Thattai Step by Step
Step 1. Make Urad Dal Flour & Gram Dal Flour. Dry roast 2 tablespoon urad dal and roasted gram dal separately until lightly golden. Cool and grind to a fine powder. Sieve if needed.
👩🏻🍳Pro tip: Simply measure out as needed and store the remaining for using later.
Step 2. Thattai Dough.
Dry roast rice flour on low flame until aromatic. Remember the rice flour just needs to be hot and colour remains in tact.Sift into a large mixing bowl.
Add urad dal flour, roasted gram flour, asafoetida, chilli powder, salt, curry leaves, soaked Bengal gram dal and melted unsalted butter or Oil. Mix with fingers until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Gradually add water, knead into smooth dough (that's not too hard or soft). Keep covered with a damp cloth.
👩🏻🍳Pro tip:Soak in ¼ cup hot water for 30 mins. Drain and set aside.
Step 3. Shape Thattai – Divide dough into small balls. Flatten between two greased ziplock sheets or parchment paper. Prick holes with curry leaf stem. (You can use fork or toothpick too.)
Step 4. Fry Thattai – Heat oil on low medium flame. Slide in Thattai and fry until golden and crisp (2–3 at a time). Cook a minute longer even after bubbles stop.
Drain them on a kitchen paper.
🧂How to Store Thattai
Let the Thattai cool completely to room temperature before storing. Keep them in an airtight container to stay crisp. They usually last 2–3 weeks at room temperature. Make sure to keep them away from moisture, or they can get soft. If they do soften a bit, just warm them on a tawa or in the oven for a few minutes to bring back the crunch.
❓Recipe FAQs
I recommend coconut oil for an authentic flavour. You can also grease your hands with coconut oil while shaping the Thattai. For frying, neutral oils like sunflower oil also work well. Avoid canola, olive, or vegetable oil, as they may alter the traditional taste.
Absolutely! Simply skip the butter and use coconut oil instead.
Patience is key. Fry on low to medium flame for longer, and ensure each Thattai is flattened evenly for uniform cooking.
The middle needs to be slightly thinner than the edges. Focus on rolling the center evenly so it cooks through while keeping the sides crisp.
Yes, millet flour works well.
Dry roast urad dal on medium flame until aromatic and lightly golden. Cool, grind to a fine powder, sieve, and use as needed. Make it ahead to make thattai's instantly.
More Easy Diwali Snacks Recipes
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Rice flour
- 2 tablespoon Urad dal flour or ullutham maavu
- 2 tablespoon Roasted gram flour or Pottukadalai powder
- 1 tablespoon Bengal gram dal or kadalai paruppu
- ½ teaspoon Asafoetida or Peringayam
- 1 teaspoon Red Chilli powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 15 Curry leaves chopped
- 2 tablespoon Unsalted Butter melted
- ½ - ¾ Cup Water
- Oil for frying I use coconut oil or sunflower oil
Instructions
Urad Dal Flour
- To make Urad Dal flour, dry roast 2 tablespoon Urad dal in a pan until it slightly changes color.
- Allow it cool down and blitz them to a fine powder. Sieve if necessary and the urad dal flour is ready to use. Simply measure out as needed and store the remaining for using later.
Roasted Gram Flour
- To make Roasted Gram flour, dry roast 2 tablespoon roasted gram dal in a pan until it slightly changes color.
- Allow it cool down and blitz them to a fine powder. Sieve if necessary and the roasted gram flour is ready to use. Simply measure out as needed and store the remaining for using later.
Thattai Dough
- Place Bengal gram dal in ¼ cup of hot water for 30 minutes. Drain and set it aside.
- Dry roast rice flour in low flame until aromatic. Remember the rice flour just needs to be hot and colour remains in tact. Sift the flour in a large mixing bowl.
- Add Urad Flour, Roasted gram flour, asafoetida, chilli powder, salt, curry leaves and Bengal gram dal to the mixing bowl.
- Add melted butter and mix the ingredients using your fingers. The mixture will resemble bread crumbs like.
- Add a little water at a time and mix until the flours comes together into a smooth dough. The dough should neither be too hard nor too soft.
- Keep the dough covered with a damp cloth at all times, to avoid the dough getting dried out.
To make Thattai
- Pinch the dough and divide it into equal small sized balls.
- To make flat thattai , use 2 ziplock bags or parchment paper or butter paper.
- Grease the ziplock bags with a little oil.
- Place the rolled thattai dough on the first ziplock bag. Place the second ziplock bag on the top.
- Use a flat bowl or katori on top of the dough and gently press to form a thin disc.
- Prick holes with a fork. Alternatively use the curry leaves stem to prick holes.
- Pick the prepared thattai disc and place it on a plate. Repeat the process with remaining dough.
- Heat oil in a medium flame until hot.
- Gently slide the thattai into the oil and fry in medium flame until they are done.
- Depending on the size of the pan, fry 2 or 3 thattai's at a time.
- Drain them on a kitchen paper. Store them in airtight container and enjoy the thattai.
Notes
Top Tips
- Roasting and sifting the flours is very important to make smooth Thattai. Do not skip this step.
- You can make the flours in advance and keep it ready for making snacks.
- Pricking the shaped Thattai is essential to prevent it from puffing up while frying.
- Fry the Thattai on low to medium heat to ensure it cooks evenly.
- Curry leaves really enhance the taste.
- Butter can be replaced with hot oil, but too much butter makes the Thattai soggy.
- Soaking chana dal is important for texture and flavour.
- Drop the Thattai into hot oil, then cook on medium-low flame; continue cooking a minute extra even after bubbles stop.
Nirmala says
Dear Sandhya,
Just made Thattais following your recipe. They turned out perfectly. They are crisp and yummy !!!! The recipe was so easy to follow, with even the smallest details beautifully explained. And more than anything, your visual presentation of the Thattais is superlative. Will definitely be logging in to try out many more ❤❤❤❤❤
Cheers,
Nirmala
Samyukta says
Homemade thattais can never beat anything else taste sandhya ,you are so lucky to have your granny to guide you .Thattais are crunchy n pass me some.
Sree vidya says
Awesome dear.
I think I should catch up with all our blogger friends' post now.
Your blog pics are just fabulous.
great going!
Divya Vikram says
Perfect and crunchy Diwali treat!
Akila says
thattai was simply delicious dear.... so crispy and awesome....