Baked Savory Onion Crackers (Nippatu)

Savory Cookies

Happy Ugadi to those who celebrate Ugadi! Even though I bake a lot of sweet stuff I usually prefer savory snacks. So when Red Chillies (RC) posted a recipe for savory onion crackers (nippatu) I wanted to try it immediately. She had prepared this from Ramya's blog. So I would like to thank both of them for this awesome recipe. RC mentions that Nippatus are very famous in Bangalore but I have never heard of it until now, even though there are a lot of Bangalore Iyengar bakeries in Chennai, where I grew up.

The procedure for making/baking these cookies is as simple as kneading dough for rotis but the taste is too good for such a simple process. The taste is really addictive. These crackers have a melt-in-your mouth texture and you can't stop with even 2 or 3.

I made two batches of the recipe as in RC's blog. I was sending it with my husband (who was traveling to India) for my mother and in-laws. Everybody there loved it so much. I wish I remember how many crackers I got for the 4 cups of flour I used! It definitely made a huge batch of cookies. I made one batch at a time.

I wanted to try substituting half the flour with whole wheat flour but did not want to mess it up. So I will be trying it the next time. I would also try reducing the amount of oil and butter.

Changes I made:
1. Used red chili powder instead of green chillies, white onion instead of red onion.
2. Also I used "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter's" cooking and baking blend instead of real butter. The ICBNB has 50% less saturated fat than butter, and 0mg cholesterol.
3. I didn't use the entire 1/4 cup of warm water mentioned in the recipe. Use little by little as needed.
4. I omitted the sugar too.

This is my entry for this month's MBP - Snacks and Savories event hosted by Ashwini. MBP originally created by Coffee.

Savory Cookies

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40 COMMENTS

  1. Crackers! | INTREPID allergy mum

    […] ingredients I love are spices and herbs so I�was really pleased to find an Indian recipe for�Nippatu.� If you are game you could stick to the original recipe and add a fresh green chilli or […]

  2. bhuvaneshwari

    hi madhuram,

    i was interested in this recipe but couldn’t find the ingredients and the preparation method as in other recipes. Pls let me know at the earliest 🙂

    Hi Bhuvaneshwari, the link is there right in the first paragraph. Anyways check it out below http://redchillies.us/2009/03/02/savory-onion-cookies-baked-nippattu/

  3. R

    I tried this recipe today. Instead of coriander leaves substituted with curry leaves…I can tell u , they very tasty and unstoppable…i would munch them lifetime 🙂 .

    Yes, it is definitely a great recipe. Thanks to Red Chillies.

  4. I’m back …with some onion crackers | Tales of a spoon

    […] I don�t have a Russian recipe yet, but a review for an Indian one instead: savory onion crackers (nippatu). This crackers are my contribution to the September edition of Tried&Tasted, created […]

  5. suma

    Hi Madhu,
    I regularly visit your site and keep trying the recipes posted here……loved this recipe…just added a few peanuts and omitted the ’til seeds’ and also added less water to the original recipe..it tasted great ..my husband just loved it…thanks to u from me and my hubby.
    With warm regards Suma

    Thank you very much Suma.

  6. Soumya

    Yes Nippattu is one of the fast moving item in Bangalore’s Srinivasa Bakery.(not Iyengar’s Bakery)He sells his items within 2-3 hrs,so u can imagine how tasty and yummy it is.

  7. Anu

    I stumbled upon this site today and I am so kicked to find a treasure trove of recipes for eggless goodies.

    Will check back for the whole wheat version of nippattu.

    @Cilantro – ICBNB has transfats that FDA doesn’t require it to be published on the nutrition info panel since the amount per serving is too small. Transfats are worse than saturated fats, so regular use of ICBNB is not advisable. Remember Mom saying “Dalda’s not good for you?”

    Thanks Anu. I’m pretty sure that the whole wheat version will also be good because I baked these whole wheat crackers recently and they were nice and crunchy. Didn’t miss the white flour at all. Not only ICBNB, I think most of the products which advertise 0gm trans fat in fact do have minimal amount of trans fat per serving and as you have mentioned they are not required to mention it.

  8. Deepthi

    Hi, Madhu,

    Thank you very much for the recipe, it was awesome. I prepared it for a party. It was clean sweep. I had to bake it for more than 25 mins and i turned it after 12 or 15 mins to evenly bake on both sides. Can we prepare this with wheat flour.

    You’re welcome Deepthi. It bakes evenly even without flipping. I have not yet tried with wheat flour but if I do try I will start with equal portions of all purpose flour and wheat flour.

  9. priya

    just a quick update.I used equal parts of rice flour and all purpose flour.It turned out ok .

    That’s great Priya. Actually I was thinking of using besan when I try it the next time.

  10. priya

    Just made them it tastes so good.will have to wait until tmrw to see whether it will crisp.Thanks once again for the awesome nippatu. 😛

    You’re welcome Priya. It should be good for a week.

  11. Bharti

    I made a Sindhi version of these! They were so good.

  12. Namratha

    You made Nipattu!! 😯 They are so perfect Madhu, nicely done! 🙂

  13. Parita

    Hi madhuram, these crackers look lovely, i love the combination 🙂 will be making them this week, will let you know how they turned out to be, thanks for dropping by my blog, keep visiting 🙂

  14. 9to5to9

    These just made my must-try list — they sound fantastic. The guys are used to homemade crackers, so I just might be able to convince at least one of them. If not, well, that’s more for me to eat.