Fafda
Preparation Time
10 minutes
Cooking Time
30 minutes
Difficulty Level
moderate
Meal Type
Evening Snack
Serves 6
Key Ingredients
- Besan (chickpea flour)
About This Recipe
Fafda is the crisp fried strip of the Gujarati snack stalls, and this besan fafda is the home version of it. The besan-oil dough ratio is the whole secret: two cups of besan to three tablespoons of oil, with the oil rubbed into the flour before any water touches it. The fat coats the grain that way, and the strips fry to a snap instead of soaking up the pan.
Rest time matters twice. The dough rests for ten minutes after kneading, so the flour takes the water and the dough stops fighting the press; and the fried strips rest out of the oil on paper, because fafda turns crisp only as it cools. The twist-press is a single stroke: a ball of dough on a lightly oiled board, the heel of the palm on it, one press down and a pull away with a turn of the wrist, and the strip lifts off thin and even. The first two or three strips are the practice; after that the hand remembers.
The frying is quick and the flame steady: a few strips at a time, turned once, lifted when they are an even gold. The strips finish in one layer on paper so the steam escapes and every strip stays crisp to the last one. Besan is chickpea flour; the besan hub covers the flour that fries into these strips.
Ingredient List
Serving Size:
1x
2x
3x
For the dough
- Besan (chickpea flour) — 2 cups
- Ajwain (carom seeds) — 1 tsp
- Black pepper powder — 1/2 tsp
- Turmeric Powder — 1/4 tsp
- Salt — 1 tsp
- Water — 1/2 cup
- Groundnut oil for the dough — 3 tbsp
For frying
- Groundnut oil for deep frying — 500 ml
- Groundnut oil absorbed while frying — 3 tbsp
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Serving Suggestions
Serve with green chutney and fried green chillies, or pack the strips with chutney in a snack box. Leftovers stay crisp for up to two days in an airtight box in the fridge. The besan recipes roundup has the flour's other snacks, like the steamed besan dhokla recipe.
Tips for Cooking Fafda
Rub the oil into the flour until it looks like damp sand before adding water; this is what makes fafda snap instead of bend. Knead the dough firm, not soft, and keep the waiting balls covered. Press-pull with one motion of the heel, and fry on a steady medium flame without crowding, or the strips turn greasy instead of crisp.
Chef’s Note
A serving of four fafdas comes to about 287 kcal, with 9.0 g protein and 4.3 g fibre; the oil counts what goes into the dough and what the strips take up in the pan. The ajwain, black pepper, turmeric and salt are not part of those numbers.
Per serving (approx.): 287 kcal, protein 9 g, carbs 23 g, fat 18 g, fibre 4.3 g. Computed from IFCT 2017 / USDA values for the listed quantities. Measures: 1 cup = 240 ml, 1 tbsp = 15 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml.
Happy Cooking
!!
ByCOWBERRY
Jul 06, 2026
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Difficulty Level
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