Easy Fara Recipe

Fara (Phara) is a snack and breakfast dish, this recipe uses rice flour, salt and water. The dough is made and then rolled out into sticks. This boiled and tempered dish is easy and filling. It is served alongside chutney. A simple dish that encourages you to reduce the waste of good food.

Also known as Faraa, is enjoyed as a snack or breakfast meal. There are no special occasions for making it.

Phara can be paired well with any kind of chutney, but I pair it with a curry, like a Dal Tadka Recipe. Next time, I can add them to this Dal Dhokli.

Over the past few years, I had forgotten about Phara. Recently at a Korean restaurant, we had Tteokbokki and I remembered this simple dish. So Tteokbokki is also on the cards.

Fara reminds me of Ammani Kozhukattai or Sheet Laddu. Other similar dishes are patoli and modak.

I read up on Fara when I did the Blogging Marathon States years ago. I had mistaken it to be a dish only from Chattisgarh. But it is enjoyed in the neighbouring states of Bihar and Jharkhand.

Chattisgarh is the rice bowl of India, and most tribal food is made from rice, curds or yogurt and leafy vegetables.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Substitutions
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• Protips
• Related
• Pairing
• Easy Fara Recipe

Ingredients

These are your ingredients; for quantities, please check the recipe card.

For Fara:

• Rice flour
• Water
• Oil
• Sesame seeds
• Green chillies
• Garlic
• Green coriander leaves
• Salt

For Chutney:

• Tomatoes 
• Garlic   
• Green  chilli
• Coriander  leaves
• Salt

Instructions

• Boil the water with salt. Add the rice flour. Stir and set aside. The flour will be lumpy and in some places dry. That’s okay. Cover with a lid and set aside.
• Once the rice flour is cool enough to handle, oil your hands and knead it. make small rolls or small logs or rolls.
• Make a paste of coriander leaves, green chilli and garlic with water. Set aside.

The first way to make Faraa:

• In a pan heat oil and add the sesame seeds.
• Add green chillies and the garlic and coriander paste. Stirfry till you nice aroma.
• Add ½ cup of water check seasonings and bring to a boil.
• Once the water starts boiling add the rice sticks, cover and simmer for about 5 minutes.
• After about 5 minutes open the pan. Cook for another 2-3 minutes if there is any water left.
• Serve.

The second way to make Phara:

• Boil water in a pan and add some salt.
• Add the rice sticks to the boiling water. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Check on the boiling sticks.
• Once they float on water they are done. Transfer to a plate and set aside to cool.
• In a pan, add oil and sesame seeds. Add the green chilli, garlic and coriander paste and stir fry till the raw aroma goes away.
• Add the fara sticks and mix well.
• Serve garnished with coriander leaves and chutney of your choice.

To make Tomato Chutney:

Add all the tomatoes, coriander leaves, green chilli and salt to the mixer.

Grind coarse. Your chutney is ready.

In place of just rice flour, you can add cooked rice too the proportion of flour and cooked rice is 1:½.

Substitutions

• In place of just rice flour, use add cooked leftover rice. The proportion of flour and cooked rice is 1:½.

Variations

• Stuffed: Generally a filling of lentils is added to the flattened disc of rice dough And steamed. But I guess you can stuff it in a filling of green peas as I used for making Siddu.
  • In case you want meat or seafood you can also add filling made from chicken and prawns like it is done for momos. Will taste great.
• Ammani Kozhukattai: In South India, the rice dough is made into small balls and then steamed. For these steamed balls, make a tempering and flavour with chutney powder. Just like these idli bites.
• Dietary Restrictions: This recipe is gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan.
• Flavor Profile Variations: I have shared the traditional method of flavouring phara.
  • But you can use it to make tteokbokki.
  • Make it like a flat disc and add coconut and jaggery filling(patoli or modak-like).
  • Use herbs and sauces like basil pesto, arrabitta or spicy tomato jam.
  • How about honey chilli flavour, pav bhaji flavour?
  • Add in Dal and make something similar to dal dhokli. Makes a beautiful base for fusion recipe.
• Toppings: Keep it simple! I use chutney like tamarind leaf pachadi or coconut chutney. But the girls enjoy it with sweet and sour tamarind chutney or pickle.
• For a filling meal serve it with dal as we do for dal bafla of course, this is again a fusion I am suggesting. But if you like it go ahead.
• Spice levels: The amount of spice we can now eat is low so my cooking is almost bland. You can add more chillies to raise the heat or serve with a spicy chutney like this Kathiyawadi Garlic Chutney.

Equipment

• Pan   
• Wok/kadhai
• Slotted spoon
• Plate
• Mixer grinder

Storage

• I have never tried storing these Fara. They are generally last-minute snacks or breakfast items we need. But I think the cooked fara will stay good for about 2-3 days in the fridge in an airtight container.
• If you freeze the fara, please let me know how you do it and I will update my post.

Protips

• Use fresh rice flour to make the dough. It is more easy to knead.
• I use store-bought flour you can however make the flour at home.
• Use some mashed cooked rice (leftover is fine) with the flour in case you find it difficult to shape the dough. Especially useful if your flour has become old.

Related

Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

Pairing

These are my favourite dishes to serve with Phara recipe:

This post I posted on 4-Apr-2014, updating it with pictures and a write-up reposting it today.

Summary: Fara or Phara is an easy recipe that can be adapted to suit your tastes and ingredients. You can make a quick snack or breakfast dish with basic pantry ingredients.

Make this easy Fara and let me know how you enjoyed it! Subscribe to our newsletter to get updates on our newer recipes.

Nutritional Disclaimer: I am not a certified nutritionist and make no claims to the contrary. Please check with your nutritionist for your dietary needs and restrictions. Ultimately you are responsible for your decisions.