Baked Oats Mathri
- 20 min prep
- 90 min
- Bake
- Serves 6
- 220 kcal
- 4.9 g protein
Flaky ajwain mathri made with oat flour, atta and a spoon of sooji, baked rather than fried. Crisp, layered and very hard to stop eating with chai.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (70 g) rolled oats, ground to a fine flour
- 1 cup (120 g) whole wheat flour (atta)
- 3 tbsp (30 g) fine semolina (sooji)
- 1 tsp ajwain, crushed between your palms
- 1 tbsp kasuri methi, crushed, and ½ tsp crushed black pepper
- ¾ tsp salt
- 4 tbsp (60 ml) oil, plus a little to brush the tops
- 5-6 tbsp (75-90 ml) cold water
Method
- 1Grind the rolled oats to a fine flour and sift it into a bowl with the atta, sooji, ajwain, kasuri methi, pepper and salt.
- 2Pour in the oil and rub it into the flour with your fingertips for 2-3 minutes, until a handful pressed in your fist holds its shape. This is what makes the mathri flaky.
- 3Add the cold water a tablespoon at a time and bring the mixture together into a stiff, tight dough. Do not knead it smooth.
- 4Cover with a damp cloth and rest for 30 minutes. Heat the oven to 180°C and line a tray with parchment.
- 5Divide the dough in two. Roll each half to about 3 mm thickness and cut into 5 cm rounds or diamonds. Prick each piece several times with a fork.
- 6Arrange on the tray, brush the tops lightly with oil, and bake for 12 minutes. Flip and bake for another 10-13 minutes, until firm and pale golden at the edges.
- 7Cool completely on a rack. Mathri crisps up fully only once cold.
Notes from the Department
- Roll thin. Thick oat-and-atta mathri bakes hard rather than crisp.
- Prick well, or the pieces puff into hollow pillows.
- Air fryer: 160°C for 12-14 minutes in batches, flipping once. Deep-frying is possible on low heat, about 8-10 minutes per batch, if you want the traditional version.
Nutrition per serving
- Energy
- 220 kcal
- Protein
- 4.9 g
- Carbohydrate
- 26 g
- Fat
- 11 g
- Fibre
- 3.8 g
- Sugars
- 0.2 g
Why this works
Traditional mathri is maida and ghee, fried slowly until it shatters. We keep the method and change the flour. Oat flour has no gluten, so it shortens the dough and makes it tender and crumbly, while atta gives it enough structure to roll. A few spoons of sooji add the crunch. Rubbing the fat in properly before adding water is the step that matters most: it coats the flour so layers form in the oven.
Baking at a moderate heat dries the mathri slowly from the inside out, the way a low-flame fry would. Pull it when the edges just turn golden. It firms up as it cools.
Swaps
Melted ghee instead of oil gives a richer, more traditional flavour, though the mathri is then no longer vegan. Swap kasuri methi for cumin seeds or a pinch of red chilli powder. There is no good gluten-free version; the atta is doing structural work. For a change of shape, roll the dough into thin ropes and twist them into knots before baking.
Serving and storage
Serve with masala chai and a spoon of mango or lemon pickle, which is how mathri is meant to be eaten. Stored in an airtight tin, it keeps for 2 weeks. If it softens in humid weather, warm it in the oven at 150°C for 5 minutes and cool again. It makes a good gift box filler at Diwali.
Questions people ask
- Can I make mathri with only oat flour?
- Not easily. Without some wheat flour the dough cracks when rolled and the mathri crumbles. Keep at least half the flour as atta or maida.
- Why is my baked mathri hard?
- The dough was too wet, over-kneaded, or rolled too thick. Keep it stiff, just bring it together, and roll to about 3 mm.
- Can I fry oats mathri instead of baking?
- Yes. Fry in oil on low heat for 8-10 minutes per batch, turning occasionally, until pale golden and the bubbling slows down.
Inspired by Annarasa. Method, notes and photograph by the Ministry of Oats.
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