Sev Recipe - Crispy Sev for Chaats, is a delicious traditional Indian Snack. We make it with fine chickpea flour or Besan. We add spices to the chickpea flour dough and deep fry in hot oil.

Sev is used in different ways. You can serve Sev as snack as such or as a topping or mixed with other dishes. So we make Sev for Chaat, along with other savories in a mixture.
We call Sev Ompodi in regional language and is a traditional savory dish for festivals like Deepavali, Janmashtami etc.
For Deepavali, Amma makes traditional Savories like Murukku, Ompodi (Sev), Ribbon Pakoda. Festivals are the time she feels she needs to make for the younger generation to enjoy our Indian snacks.
Krishna Jayanthi / Janmashtami / Gokulashtami is one of the festivals she observes and makes elaborate dishes as well. I only go and help her with the cooking.
We normally make the Sev or Ompodi with a mix of both Besan and Rice flour. The dough turns out easy to handle. However, this time we decided to use just Besan to make the sev, like the ones we use for Chaats. We didn't add chili powder either. The dough was very tough to manage and I ended up adding more water to make it almost semi-liquid. When the dough is in this condition, you need to press it quickly in one direction, else you will end up having a lump or rather a bajji in the oil.
This Sev Recipe - Crispy Sev for Chaats is good to munch on its own, or you can use it as topping for other dishes. I even used it for Pani Puri and it was really good.
Our regular Sev or Omapodi is a mix of Besan and Rice flour, we also make a Pesara Karapusa / Moong Dal Ompodi
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Ingredients
Flour - We use only Besan / Chickpea flour to make this savory dish. This is served more for toppings like chaat dishes.
Spices - We add Ajwain/ Vaamu powder & Asafoetida / Hing for spice flavouring.
Other Ingredients - Apart from the above basic ingredients, we only need ghee, salt and water for kneading.
For Frying - I have used refined sunflower oil for deep frying. You can use any oil of your choice.
Instructions
Making the dough for Sev recipe:
Wash and soak the ajwain for 10 mins, then grind using water. Sieve the liquid and you can use that water. You can also dry roast and make a powder.
In a bowl, sieve the besan, ghee, and salt. Mix well. Then add the ajwain water, hing, and mix well.
Slowly add water and mix well to get a loose dough that is soft enough to pass through the press. When you press down you should get it flowing easily but not very loose at the same time.


Instructions for deep frying this Sev Recipe:
Meanwhile, get the press ready. Fill the press with the dough, the consistency of the mix will be more like a batter than a thick dough.
Heat a pan with oil., when it becomes very hot, simmer the flame. Take the filled in the press and directly press over hot oil in a circular movement for about 3 -4 circles.
Cook over medium flame and turn over to ensure both sides are cooked to golden colour.
Once done, remove to a kitchen towel.
Since this dough is only with besan, it becomes very difficult to press, so adding a little more water will help.

Step by Step Pictures for making the Sev Recipe

Substitutions & Variations
We make couple of other variations to this Sev. You can make with a mix of rice flour, or with moong dal flour if you want to add different lentils to this dough.
Equipment
For making this Sev Recipe, we need a deep frying Kadai or a wok for deep frying this savory.
A Murukku aachu with the sev plate. We get this mold with all nozzles available in the package.
Slotted ladle to drain the fried sev from oil, colander to drain excess oil. You can have kitchen towel to absorb excess oil
An airtight container to store for couple of weeks.
Storage
Once the sev is deep fried, allow it to cool down to room temperature.
Next, crumble it or store it as such in an airtight container. This will stay fresh for almost 3 to 4 weeks as well.
Expert Tips
When making this Sev Recipe, make sure you crush the ajwain well and grind it to a find paste. Else when deep frying it will cause minor explosion.
Add water slowly to the dough while kneading else you will end up with a runny dough that will also absorb more oil during frying.
Let the oil heat up well, then while pressing the dough into the hot oil, make sure its turned to medium. Cook the sev on medium flame for uniform frying.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this Sev Recipe? Try these:
Recipe
Sev Recipe | How to make Sev for Chaat
Ingredients
- 1 cup Besan / Chickpea flour
- 1 tsp Ghee
- 1 tsp Ajwain / Vaamu
- 1/8 tsp Asafoetida / Hing
- Salt to taste
- Water as required
- Cooking Oil for deep frying
Instructions
- Wash and soak the ajwain for 10 mins, then grind using water. Sieve the liquid and you can use that water. You can also dry roast and make a powder.
- In a bowl, sieve the besan, ghee and salt. Mix well. Then add the ajwain water, hing and mix together.
- Slowly add water and mix well to get a loose dough that is soft enough to pass through the press. When you press down you should get it flowing easily but not very loose at the same time.
- Meanwhile get the press ready. Fill the press with the dough, the consistency of the mix will be more like a batter than a thick dough.
- Heat a pan with oil., when it becomes very hot, simmer the flame. Take the filled in press and directly press over hot oil in a circular movement for about 3 -4 circles.
- Cook over medium flame and turn over to ensure both sides are cooked to golden colour.
- Once done, remove to a kitchen towel.
Notes
Nutrition
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Shobha Keshwani says
Home made sev is always the best.
Rafeeda - The Big Sweet Tooth says
I think I will finish eating this by the time it is done frying, that there will be nothing for chaats... hehe...
PJ says
We usually add a little rice flour. Never tried with besan alone. But this one is for sure a crowd-pleaser!
vaishalisabnani says
We make only with besan , but it has been long since I made , actually mil was the one to make it . The sev looks perfect for chat , now I am craving to eat some.
pumpkinfarmfood says
it looks nice and crunchy , waiting for some occassion to make these, has been a long time
Linda says
Hi Srivalli! The blog is looking beautiful - and I love this snack 🙂 All the best!
Srivalli says
Thank you for dropping by Linda, Glad you liked the blog 🙂
Mayuri Patel says
Besan sev is such a versatile snack... have it alone, add it chaats and even have it in between two slices of bread. I've never tried making the one with rice flour.
Sapana says
This is how I make sev for tea time snack. So crispy ad yummy.
Priya Srinivasan says
This is appa's favorite snack valli! It is staple for every diwali at home. Even now amma makes a small quantity just for him! My lil one enjoys this next to crunchy muruku, he thinks it is fried noodles! 🙂 That moong dal ompodi looks interesting
Kalyani says
Such a basic yet Versatile snack for Indian chaat. The SEv pics especially the last one is so inviting, Valli !
Priya Srinivasan says
Sev is our must make snack for Diwali, since my little one enjoys this more like my dad, i make it often for him. I do add rice flour with besan, will try this way next time.
Radha says
The chaat is not chaat without sev on top. This recipe sounds super easy. its been a while since I made it at home. I will try your recipe.
Archana says
Besan sev looks delicious and I know your control is exemplary! By the time I finish frying one batch the earlier one will be in my tummy.