Omapodi recipe, also called plain sev, is a crispy South Indian snack made from besan (gram flour), rice flour and ajwain (omam/ carom seeds). It is a golden and crunchy deep fried snack made under a minute per batch and needs simple ingredients in your pantry.
You can make this crunchy snack for festivals like Diwali or for everyday tea time snack for your kids & family.
Check out my Madras mixture recipe and Aloo bhujia recipe in this website.
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Some people make with just purely besan, but I make this way as I follow my MIL's omapodi recipe, who have decades of experience in making snack. Also pressing with purely besan dough is very hard for me, it gets tighter. My mom makes it for us with purely besan, it is softer crisp to bite. She till now makes it for Aj when I visit her.
This is my family favorite snack, so made today as Deepavali snack. For my own reference I blog this omapodi recipe and hope helps out who wants to try it out at home for Diwali celebrations.
This plain sev recipe is so easy if you make the dough consistency right. You can choose the size of the sev maker/ Omapodi as your need - super fine or medium fine. Both ways its delicious and kids would love this very much. We can use this same sev for chaat recipes like sev puri too! I use screw type sev press for making it easy to squeeze if I am making just for Aj for his snacks. He eats the fine sev with a spoon as it will be too fine to take with his hands. The screw type has very slightly larger holes comparatively, which makes it easy for him to pick and eat too.
About Omapodi
Omapodi is a crunchy deep-fried gram flour snack from South India. It is called plain sev too in other parts of the recipe. The highlight of the recipe is it's unique ajwain flavor, from which it is named oma podi - omam in Tamil means ajwain, carom seeds. I think because of it's tiny texture, its called Omapodi.
Omapodi method
Lets see how to make sev with step-by-step pictures.
- Dry roast omam, just to heat it up to ensure easy powdering. Do not change the flavour. Just it should turn crisp.
2. Cool down and take it in a mixer. Grind as fine as possible.
3. Then add ¼ cup water and grind again to a fine paste. Filter this and keep aside.
4. Some omam have too much impurities, for those type, you can follow wash, soak and grind method.
5. Sieve 1 cup gram flour and ½ cup rice flour together and add salt, butter, hot oil and the omam extract and mix well.
6. Then add water as needed(careful,needs very less) and mix well,form a smooth dough, stickier side.
7. Take a small portion of omapodi dough and fill it in the press. Use the omapodi/ idiyappam pate or the ones just used to make idiyappam/ omapodi. Squeeze as discs in heated oil(oil should be heated just right,i.e; if you add a pinch/ small piece of dough it should raise up immediately, don't heat till oil fuming).
8. Form a circle in the oil and make sure you don't overlap.
9. Turn carefully immediately and cook till the bubbles ceases(takes very less time,less than a minute)
10. Drain in paper towel and repeat the process for rest of the dough.
Keep in an airtight container after cooling down to retain crispiness, tastes best from the next day 🙂
Top tips
- If the dough is hard to squeeze, sprinkle a little more water to loosen it. No need to go through hard squeezing, its not possible for long term.
- If sev dissolves in oil, it can be low oil temperature or too much oil/ butter in the dough. Add more flour, water to fix it and increase oil temperature if oil is low in heat.
- Dont skip filtering ajwain/ omam as it can clog the fine holes in the murukku press.
- The oil heat should be regulated every batch while deep frying. Otherwise it will become dark in colour than golden brown.
- Also refill oil if it gets less. It may drink up oil if you are making a big batch. If the omapudi touches the bottom, it can get browned or burnt.
Substitutions & Variations
You can make omapodi with more besan, it will be slightly harder side to press. So make the dough with more water to make it soft and easy to press through. This can affect the texture.
I have not added any spices. Use ½ teaspoon red chili powder for a spicy twist. The colour can be orangish if we add red chilli powder.
Did not add asafoetida because ajwain will overpower it, but if you like you can add hing (perungayam).
You can use mint or coriander along with green chilli ground to a paste, for a chatpata version of omapodi.
Shelf life
Cool the fried omapodi completely before storing in an air-tight container. The flavor actually is better from the next day onwards. When you open the container, you will smell the aroma of Omam (ajwain)
It stays good for 10 days in room temperature. You can store upto 1 month in the fridge.
Cant store the dough in the fridge as refrigeration can make the omapodi brown faster in oil.
Troubleshooting
Omapodi breaking apart in oil or dissolving in oil: This means there is too much fat - oil/ butter in the dough. Add little more flour and little water to fix it. Also double check if oil is hot.
The dough is too hard to press through: Sprinkle a little water and knead the dough to mix again.
FAQs
What are the ingredients needed to make omapodi?
- Gram flour
- Rice flour
- Ajwain (Omam) - Carom seeds
- Salt & Oil
Omapodi can translate to crispy deep fried gram flour noodles or also called plain sev.
Omapodi is generally not a healthy snack as it is a deep fried snack high in fat and calories.
Omapodi murukku is a crispy deep-fried South Indian snack made with gram flour, rice flour and carom seeds as main ingredients.
Recipe card
Omapodi Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup Besan/ kadalai mavu
- ½ cup Rice flour
- 1 tablespoon Butter at room temperature
- 2 tablespoon Hot oil
- 2 tablespoon Ajwain/ Omam/ caraway seeds
- Salt
- Oil - for deep frying
Instructions
- Dry roast omam,just till warm and powder it in the mixer.Then add ¼ cup water and grind again .Filter this and keep aside. (You can wash, soak for an hour and grind too).
- Sieve gram flour and rice flour together and add salt,butter,hot oil and the omam extract and mix well.
- Then add water as needed(careful,needs very less) and mix well,form a sticky dough.
- Press through the ompodi/idiyappam press in heated oil(oil should be heated just right,i.e; if you add a pinch of dough it should raise up immediately,dont heat till oil fuming)
- Form a circle in the oil and make sure you don't overlap.
- Turn carefully immediately and cook till the bubbles ceases(takes very less time,less than a minute)
- Drain in paper towel and repeat the process for rest of the dough.
Video
Notes
- If you find it difficult to press through, then sprinkle a little water to loosen the dough.
- In case dough is getting dissolved in oil, then too much fat (butter & Oil) in the dough or excess water in the dough. Add more flour to trouble shoot. Also make sure to have the oil temperature hot while squeezing.
- I have updated the post with video, in that, I have used larger sized hole oma podi mold plate.
Sushma Mallya says
i love this one..perfect snack..i had made this long back...Nice one raks...lovely clicks too
Shama Nagarajan says
quick simple and yummy snack
jeyashrisuresh says
my family's fav one too. but this time i didnt make this. but ur pictures make me very tempting to make this.Excellent clicks
Jaishree says
I love this snack quick & simple snack. looks yummy& tempting... Nice click !
Kanchan says
Nice step wise snaps,gives the thorough details !
jayasree says
Great clicks.... Lovely color.
Lena Rashmin Raj says
this is my all time fav..im a new comer to your blog...but i didn expect i will c my favorite snap wen i opened it for the first time.. 🙂
Nags says
wow! i'd need to toughen up much more if i am to make traditional stuff like this 🙂
Sandhya Hariharan says
Lovely..... Raks.
Most of the times we make it 4 our own reference.
Sush says
this is the most versatile & everyone's fav snack. Pictures are gorgeous Raks
Rohini says
One fav snack that never fails to lift our mood!! Perfect for Diwali!!
Lovely click, dear.. U made me yearn for some! 🙂
Prathibha says
Lovely snack Raks..
I love to top any of my chaats with this generously....nice color too.
Aruna Manikandan says
Ompodi Looks perfect!!!!!
One of my favorite snack and Lovely Clicks!!!!!11
shanthi says
Looks perfect and a lovely snack
lata raja says
Perfect for deepavali. I reverse the ratio of the flours, equally crisp. Your picture is as inviting as much as the dish. Happy deepavali to you and family.
Priya says
My family's favourite, just now finished making out pottukadalai murukku, am planning to make out omapodi too, looks prefect Raks, awesome click..
Sanghi says
Wow.. what a surprise, i made it today evening da.. Will post tomorrow.! Ur's looks perfect!:)
Home Cooked Oriya Food says
i love this... looks perfect.
Tina says
Ohhhh this is my fav snack. Looks perfect..i love this.
Sangeetha Subhash says
Wow, its good to discover your blog. All recipes are wonderful creation...Ompodi looks amazing !!I love it..My all time favorite always used to buy never tried!!now bookmarked it.Thanks for sharing..
prasu says
I love this snack........Nice one Rak's.
DEESHA says
that looks perfect
Preeti Kashyap says
Perfect! Awesome click Raks!
Pari says
Looking at all you guys I am wondering when will I start my preparations.the Sev looks yummy Raks.
Sailaja Damodaran says
Crispy....nice one
Gulmohar says
Good one Raks..Nice clicks too
Geetha Achal says
superb...Me too Like it so much..
Suma Rajesh says
wooo looks soo inviting..
Vidhya says
Love Omapodi. I am thinking of making it too... REally tempting pictures
Cham says
My son loves it, beautiful click!
n33ma says
good click.This is one of my favs too.
rekhas kitchen says
nice post and beautiful pic. asusual Raks. It's my hubby s fav. toolooks perfect.
Yasmeen says
very festive:)
jayasri says
hi raks, lovely clicks i missed doing this for krishnajayanthi, may be for diwali!!, looks absolutely stunning
Anonymous says
it looks so simple when you do it..and such yumilicious pics..
sowmya.s says
looks perfect..
Cilantro says
Wish you and your family a Happy Deepavali! Omapodi looks great with the golden color. Lovely click as always.
Valarmathi says
Wow just looks lovely and perfect.
Lavi says
It has come out so crisp. Love this Raks.
Kitchen Flavours says
Wow...my all time favourite munching snack....looks delectable...
A 2 Z Vegetarian Cuisine says
Looks fantastic, your pictures are tempting to make it. But unfortunately my omapodi plate is missing, will have to do something else.
Soma says
OMG!! what a snack:-) I wonder if this would last till "next day" in my home:-) .. I haven't been able to do anything for Diwali at home this year... what a state i am in:-(
Happy Diwali Raks to you & your family!
Soma
http://www.ecurry.com
Mythreyi Dilip says
Perfect Ompodi, you are excellent cook dear!!!
Happy diwali to you and your family dear Rajeswari, may this diwali light up your life with prosperity and lots of happiness!!!
Mansi says
wow, never really eaten this, but looks similar to the Gujju sev that we make:) thanks for the great attention to details!
btw, I'm back to blogging after my motherhood break, and hope you can find some time to make some goodies for my Sweet celebration event
Malar Gandhi says
Looks so good, perfect for diwali, right. Advance diwali wishes.
LG says
Happy Deepavali Raji. Ompodi looks grogeous 🙂
Geetha Achal says
இனிய தீபாவளி நல்வாழ்த்துகள்
Priyanka Navis says
a very tempting click....wow it looks so yummy
my kitchen says
My husband favorite snack.Looks perfect
Pavithra says
Happy Diwali to you dear and perfect snack too. Looks sooooooooooo good and great click.
DK says
I cant get enough of this! One of my all time fav!
DK
http://chefinyou.com
San!!! says
It's like bird's nest,very attractive pic.You have got a lovely space.
Ramya Kiran says
Have never tried this before, just had what my mom used to make. Yours looks great!
Akal's Saappadu says
ompodi looks so crunchy munchy!!! good clicks!
Archy says
love this snack.. looks so gud with tempting pics.. Whenever i tried, never came out gud.. shall try ur version soon!!
Mahi says
wowww! am seeing this just now..lovely oma podi raji!
My murukku achchu has large wholes...when I make this,feeling like we are eating murukku.wish I had your oma podi press!:)
Sharmila says
Hi .... Cing ur site from many days... today i tried this sev ... this came out reallly wonderful... i'm very much happy... Thankq for these wonderful recipes.. will try some recipes of urs soon
pooja Srivastava says
is it necessary to add rice flour?
archana says
Nice!!
Sumathi Ganesh says
Tried yr recipe.It came out well.thanks for sharing your wonderful recipes.
alamu ayyappan says
Hi I tried it .. Taste n crispy was too good but absorbs more oil n also hard to press
Sredevi says
I am your follower,gets good feedback by following your recipes,thank u very much,tried om Podi as Diwali snacks, and came out well.
Raks Anand says
Thank you so much 🙂
Lalitha Rajendran says
All your recipe are brilliant and dishes comes out perfect!! I have a query.. this ommapudi maavu can I store in the fridge and use later ?
Raks Anand says
Thanks a lot 🙂 Please dont refrigerate, use up immediately, it will turn reddish if the dough is stored and used.