Title of Invention

A Process For The Preparation of a Low Fat Snack - Like Chakli

Abstract

The invention relates to process for the preparation of a low fat snack like chakli. In the process of present invention deep fat frying is replaced by baking step and also uses other grain bases such as maize flour, wheat flour, bengalgram. The process steps are; b) Roasted rice flour of 30 to 100 mesh size or steamed maize flour of 30 to 100 mesh size or steamed refined wheat flour b). roasted blackgram dhal flour of 30 to 100 mesh size or puffed bengalgram dhal flour of 30 to 100 mesh size c) mixing with other desired ingredients d) extruding the dough material to a Chakli strand f) cutting into .pieces and g) baking or exposed to microwave to a safe moisture to obtain a ready-to-eat crunchy rice, maize or wheat Chakl.

Full Text

This invention relates to a process for the preparation of a low fat snack - like Chakli. Deep fat products are valued for their crisp and crunchy texture and are prepared from cereals and cereal-pulse mixtures. Generally their manufacture involves some form of extrusion of the cereal-pulse dough followed by frying. In many developed countries they are usually prepared by high-pressure extrusion to achieve high degree of expansion. In India they are made by forming extrusion (or sheeting by rollers) optionally with addition of some leavening agents followed by deep-frying in oil leading to a crisp product. Sometimes cereal doughs are cooked, extruded and dried. However these are to be fried for becoming crunchy/crisp products. Sometimes pre cooking and also post cooking of the dough is also required for certain extruded products. These products can be prepared by baking or frying without using complex high-pressure extrusion apparatus. Another class of snack foods made in India is from a non-gelatinized, non-extruded dough baked on a pan, like Khakra and horse gram papads. A few processes available for the production of snack products in different countries are described. The reference may be made to US patent US 4770891, 1988, wherein an expanded fried cereal-based snack product was prepared from a dough by mixing of partially gelatinized, pre-gelatinized and ungelatinized cereal flour or starch. The dough was sheeted, cut into pieces and fried in hot oil. The drawback of this process is that it is a high fat snack and can not be stored for long. The reference may be made to US 4623550, 1983. The process is given below. An expanded fried cereal-based snack product is prepared from a dough consisting essentially of (1) a low water-absorbing component (LOWAC) comprising one or more raw or partially gelatinised cereal flours comprising about 20% to about 80%, by weight, of the total dry solids; (2) a high water-absorbing component (HIWAC) comprising one or more pregelatinized cereal starches or flours comprising from about 10% to about 35% ,. by weight, of the total dry solids: and (3) a starch component comprising one or more ungelatinized starches comprising from about 10% to about 40% by weight, of the total dry solids. The dry solids are mixed with water to form a dough having a moisture content from about 35% to about 50% by weight of the dough. The dough is then sheeted and cut into a dough piece which is fried in hot cooking oil to form a fried snack that expands about 1.4 to about 2.5 times during frying, producing a snack of uniform expansion and low fat content. The drawback of the process is that it is a high fat snack and cannot be stored for long. The reference may be made to US patent US 4560569, 1985, wherein a dough-based fried snack food was formulated. He improved the dough transfer, sheeting and cutting of the dough by adding a small amount of lecithin-in-water suspension to the formulation of the dough. The drawback of the process is that potato flakes, corn flakes and wheat flakes are the essential ingredients not the grain flour as such. Moreover it is a fried product; so, it is a high fat snack. It is not a ready-to-fry product. The reference may be made to US patent US4221842, 1980, wherein a fried potato snack was prepared. Dough with acetylated mono glyceride as a binder was extrusion-cooked at a fairly high-temperature to get a ribbon shaped product, which .then cooked and dried for one day and fried. The drawback of this process is that it is a complicated process and use of costly equipment such as extruder cooker. The reference may be made to US patent US 4151307, 1979, wherein a fried starch containing snack product was produced from a dough of cereal flour-and / or starch and tempeh, which was then shaped and the shaped pieces were deep fat fried. The drawback of this process lies in high fat content of the fried snack. The reference may be made to US patent US 4126706, 1978, wherein a dough comprising of corn or potato solids was extrusion cooked and formed dough ribbon. The ribbon was then fried in hot oil to make corn chips like product. The drawbacks of the process lie in the steps of high temperature and pressure extrusion cooking which makes the process high cost investment and moreover, it is a high fat snack. The reference may be made to US patent US 4124727. 1978 wherein a nutritionally balanced protein snack food was prepared from legume seeds selected from the group consisting of the genus Phaseolus, the genus Pisum, the genus Vigna, the genus Lens, the genus Cicer, and the genus Soja and cereal flours. After cooking the legume seeds, mashed and mixed with cereal flours and extrude the dough to form sheet, cut it into pieces and frying in edible oil. The drawback of the process lies in the step of long time soaking of the legume seeds. Another limitation is that it is a high fat snack product. The reference may be made to US patent US 4096791, 1978. wherein an apparatus for preparing a chip type snack is disclosed. The apparatus for making chip type snack products was comprising (a) mixing means (b) sheeting means (c) cutting means (d) frying means (e) transporting means (f) molding means (g) severing means and (h) conveying means. The drawback of this process is that it is just to provide the apparatus for making chips not the formulation or way of making the chips. The reference may be made to Narasimha, H.V., Ananthachar, T.K., Gopal, M.S. and Desikachar, H.S.R. 1974 (Suitability of raw and steamed cereal grains for making deep fried 4 preparations. J.Food Sci and Technol, 11:76-78.) wherein they have studied for suitability of different cereal grains for making crisp deep fried products and the effect of steam treatment on the same. The observation has been made use of for developing mixes for Chakli and Muchorai to prepare deep fat fried snack but not for low fat products. The reference may be made to US patent US 3911142, 1975, wherein a process for preparing a protein snack food was described. A ready-to-eat snack food from soy protein, whey and potato flakes mixing with wheat flour was made to form a mass, shaping the mass into pieces and baking or frying to produce the desired product. It is essentially a wheat product of cookie type and the sequences of processing steps differ from the one presented. The reference may be made to US patent IJS 393,7848, 1,976 wherein a method and apparatus for preparing a chip type snack is disclosed. A dough from dehydrated potato material and water was sheeted and cutting into a ribbon, which then fried in oil, and fracturing the ribbon across the narrow portions to provide fabricated fried potato chips. It is a deep fat fried potato product. So it is a high fat snack and very different from the one presented here. The reference may be made to US patent US 3925563, 1975, wherein an extruded puffed snack product was prepared from potato granules and corn grits by extrusion cooking and expanding, which then cutting into pieces, toasting and enrobing the pieces with an edible oil and salt. The drawback of the process is that it needs costly equipment or machinery, like expanded extruder, oil enrober. The reference may be made to US patent US 3883671, 1975 wherein a blister free potato snack has been prepared by wetting the surfaces of dough pieces prior to frying. The drawback of the process lie in the critical processing steps like dipping, spraying, and steaming. Moreover it is a high fat snack. The reference may be made to US patent US 3864505, 1975 wherein a crisp snack food was prepared from a dough of potato mixed with other cereal, sheeting the dough and frying in oil and shaping the dough pieces before they fried dough becomes rigid. The drawback of the process is that the product is eventually a fried product.- Moreover it involves a cumbersome process of shaping. The reference may be made to UK patent GB 2270613. 1994. A wherein a snack food was prepared from a dough of durum wheat flour and water. The dough was formed into a series of required shapes and fried. The drawback of the process is that it is a fried product, so a high fat snacks. Moreover it is wheat product. The reference may be made to European patent EP 0348546 Al. 1990. wherein a fried snack was prepared from ground grain kernels by cooking the ground grain /water slurry to make a gel, mixing with dry ingredients, cutting into individual snack food pieces, drying the pieces for long term storage or frying them for immediate consumption. The drawback of the process is that it is a complete fried product and is a high fat snack. The reference may be made to European patent EP 0287158A2, 1988, wherein snack chips were prepared from corn using an emulsifier and absorbent material by extrusion cooking. The drawback of the process is that it used some emulsifier like monoglycerides and some absorbent like pectin-cellulose for crunchiness, moreover it is a complicated process and use of costly equipment such as extruders. The reference may be made to UK patent GB 2178637A, 1987, wherein a snack product was prepared from a mixture of wheat bran and un-gelatinized starch by cooking and sheeting the mass. The cut pieces were then fried in oil or cooked by immersion in heated salt or CaCCh, or by microwave. The limitation of the process is that it does not give much-expanded product and consequently will not give a good crisp product. The reference may be made to German patent DE 3345967A1, 1985, wherein a new snack has developed by frying a dough product. The product is a fried snack. The limitation of the process is that it is a high fat snack only. The reference may be made to German patent DE 2629773C2, 1985, wherein a snack product was prepared from bran and pectin. The limitation of the process is that V* of the raw material is pectin, which renders the process very expensive. The reference may be made to South African-Patent ZA 817470, 1982, wherein a cereal snack food is prepared from a dough of gelatinized starch and cereal bran other than rice bran. The drawback of the process is that they are not low fat snack. The reference may be made to British patent 1564000, 1980, wherein a cocktail snack was prepared from a starch dough containing fermentable sugar and active yeast. The dough was divided into snack size pieces, which were fermented to form a light structure. The pieces were then fried in oil. However, the use of yeast adds to the cost and chances of fermentation can give rise to undesirable flavours. The reference may be made to Japanese patent 4921075, 1974, wherein a snack food was prepared from a dough containing both amylose and amylopectin combined with a condiment and surfactant. The dough was then extruded, sliced and fried. The limitation of the product is the high fat content and use of ingredients like surfactants. The reference may be made to British patent 1339087, 1973, wherein a rice snack product was prepared from a rice flour dough by extruding, cutting into pieces and then cooked. The cooked pieces were then dried and deep-fried. Cooking of the cut shapes and retention of the shapes is the limitation of this process. Moreover it is a high fat snack. The reference may be made to the Japanese patent 3843622, 1973, wherein a snack food from soybean and vegetable material was prepared. The cooked compositions were cut into pieces and deep-fried or roasted after being spray coated with oil. The drawback of the process is lying in the fact that the product is a high fat snack. For roasted product again needs controlled spray coater. The reference may be made to the Netherlands patent 7303474, 1973, wherein a potato based crisp snack product was manufactured from dried potato flour pre-gelatinized starch and corn flour. The cut pieces from the thin layer of this dough were dried and deep fat fried. The drawback of this process is that it is essentially a potato snack and a high fat product. The reference may be made to British Patent 1321889, 1973, wherein a snack product from cereal or vegetable flour was manufactured. The hydrated mixture of flour containing condiments and water was cooked under heat and pressure and then extruded to a puffed strand which then kneaded to a homogeneous mass for further extrusion to form a ribbon. It was then dried and deep-fried. The limitation of this process lies in two-stage extrusion, which is a tedious process of manufacturing the snack product. Moreover it is a high fat fried snack. The reference may be made to Canadian patent 878424, 1971. wherein a corn chip snack was produced from popped corn flour mixing with alkali water to form a dough and fried in hot oil. Limitation of this process is in the use of popped corn flour mixing with alkali water and product is a deep fat corn chip, which may not directly acceptable to Indian consumers. The reference may be made to a US patent 3545979, 1970, wherein a snack chip was made from raw potato and whole corn kernels after grinding to a dough, sheeted out and sliced in chips, dried and deep fat fried. The drawback of this process lies in the fact that it is a high fat snack. The reference may be made to a US patent 4183966, 1980, wherein a method of manufacturing a high protein snack food was described. Whey was inoculated with yeast at 35C and the cultured whey was heated to precipitate the protein, filtered ingredients, shaped into snack food pieces and deep fat fried. The limitation of this process lies in the fermentation process where the use of yeast adds to the cost and fermentation, which can give rise to undesirable flavours. The reference may be made to US patent 5298268, 1994, wherein a method for production of seasoned snack food was described from cereal. The seasoning adheres to the snack food by means of an adhesive by spraying of the snack food or by encapsulation of the adhesive in a fat and blending encapsulated adhesive with the snack food. The method of spraying adhesive or encapsulation adds to the sophistication of the process. The reference may be made to Newzealand patent 173788, 1976 wherein a snack food was prepared from glutinous rice starch, waxy corn starch, millet starch and kaoliang starch with rice flour or cereal flour. The mixture is immediately and rapidly cooled to a temperature sufficient to form a solidified material, shaped, dried and baked to form a puffed snack product. The limitation of this process is lying in the raw material selection and in the rapid cooling step, which adds to the cost. The reference may be made to US patent US 5188859, 1993, wherein a low fat shaped snack products was disclosed. A dough was made from potato flour to form a sheet, which then cut into pieces, coated with oil and cooked by hot air or super heated steam. The drawback of the process lies in the step of molding where superheated steam is used for cooking. Such a high energy-taking step is a cost rendering process. The reference may be made to US Datent US 5171600, 1992, wherein a process for preparing a low fat shaped snack product having a light, crispy crunchy texture was disclosed. The product is essentially a potato snack. The limitation of the process lie in the use of superheated steam for removing excess fat. The snack is not a ready-to-fry product and it is a fried product. The reference may be made to US patent US 4994295, 1991, wherein a: snack chip product was prepared from a sheeted dough. The dough preform was subjected to air heating and then frying to get the snack chip. The drawback of the process lie in the use of high velocity of air and high temperature during drying of the dough material before frying to control the surface bubbling. Moreover it is a high fat snack chip. The reference may be made to US patent US 5690982, 1997, wherein a baked potato-based chip like snack food was prepared from a composition containing corn starch and potato ingredient . The formed composition was sheeted, laminated, educed in thickness, formed into pieces, and baked in a conventional oven. The draw back of the process lie in the use of main ingredient as dried potato products. It is a blistered chip-like snack food. The reference may be made to US patent US 6048561, 2000, wherein a coffee puff snack was manufactured from coffee bean grains, other grains, and moisture added when necessary, into an extruder, pressurizing and heating for gelatinization, puffing, shaping, and drying. The draw back of the process lie in the use of a costly equipment like extruder cooker for heating and puffing the material. The main object of the present invention is to provide a process for the manufacture of a low fat snack - like Chakli. Another object is to provide a process for producing low fat traditional snack product from cereal and pulse blends. Still another object is to provide a process to improve the dough handling characteristics and better final product quality. Accordingly the present invention provides a process for the preparation of a low fat snack like chakli which comprises; a) mixing steamed maize flour or steamed wheat flour, roasted and ground rice flour or blackgram flour, puffed bengalgram dhal flour of mesh 30-100 BS size, preferably 60-85 BS size in a ratio of rice to blackgram 4:1 to 3.5:1.5, Maize to wheat flour 2.5:1.5 to 2:l,wheat to bengalgram 4:1 to 3.5:1.5, rice to wheat 1.5:1 to 1:1, Maize to blackgram 4:1 to 3.5:1.5, with 12-15% hydrogenated fat, 0.005-006% baking soda, binder selected from Arabic gum, guar gum or mixture thereof, 0.012-0.10% salt, optionally spice additives as herein described and water to make a dough, characterized in that the flour used are steamed maize flour or steamed wheat flour, roasted and ground rice flour or blackgram flour, puffed bengalgram dhal flour of mesh 30-100 BS size, preferably 60-85 BS size. b) extruding the dough using conventional extruders to obtain a strand of 3-4 cm long strips, c) baking the pre-shaped strips obtained from the above step b) in a baking oven at a temperature of 200 - 240°C for a period in the range of 15-25 minutes to obtain ready to eat chakli like product. In an embodiment the spice additives used is selected from, black pepper, cumin seed powder, chilly powder, asafetida or mixture thereof. In an another embodiment the product has a low fat content. In yet another embodiment the steaming of the flour in step 1(a) is carried out for a period of 5 to 50 min in an autoclave or a pressure cooker under atmospheric pressure. In yet another embodiment the roasting of rice is done for 10 to 20 min in a grain roaster at 100 to 130°C. In yet another embodiment of the present invention the improvement of the shape retention, sheeting and cutting and improvement of the final product quality may be effected using gum arabic, guar gum or mixture thereof in the formulation of the dough. In still another embodiment of the present invention, the steaming of the flour material may be carried out using autoclave and pressure cooker for 5 min to 1 hour under atmospheric pressure. In yet another embodiment of the present invention the finish cooking may be carried out using microwave oven, infrared oven or baking oven. Novelty and inventive steps of this invention lies in the fact that a process is developed to produce low fat Chakli, a traditional snack product wherein deep fat frying is replaced by a baking step. The process also describes use of non-traditional grain bases to produce this traditionally rice and blackgram based product. The summary of the steps of the process of the present invention are: a) Roasted rice flour of 30 to 100 mesh size or steamed maize flour of 30 to 100 mesh size or steamed refined wheat flour b) roasted blackgram dhal flour of 30 to 100 mesh size or puffed bengalgram dhal flour of 30 to 100 mesh size c) mixing with other desired ingredients d) extruding the dough material to a Chakli strand f) cutting into pieces and g) baking or exposed to microwave to a safe moisture to obtain a ready-to-eat crunchy rice, maize or wheat Chakli - a traditional snack product. Process flow chart for low fat snack from rice & blackgram. (Chart Removed) The process is further illustrated by the example given below, which should not however be construed to limit the scope of the invention. Example 1 Rice Chakli 1. 420 g milled raw rice is washed with water and kept for draining water for 1 h. It is then roasted in gram roaster at 120°C for 15 min and ground to 60 mesh BSS size flour. 2. 1 lOg blackgram dhal is roasted at 120°C for 15 min and ground to 85 mesh BSS size flour. 3. 400g roasted rice flour and lOOg roasted blackgram flour obtained from above method, 75g hydrogenated fat, 1.75g gum arabic, 6.25g baking soda, 5g cumin seed and 12.5g salt are mixed well in a planetary mixer for 2 min and made a dough with 415 ml water for another 5 min. 4. The dough is then extruded to a Chakli strand, cut into 3 cm long pieces. 5. The preshaped Chakli strands are then baked in a baking oven at 220°C for 20 min to get 480g ready-to-eat rice Chakli which is then packed in moisture proof polyethylene pouches. Example 2 Maize-wheat mixed Chakli 1. 200g maize flour of size 85 BSS and 200g refined wheat flour are steamed separately at 100°C for 20min. 2. 11 Og puffed bengalgram is ground to 85 mesh BSS size flour. 3. 200g steamed maize flour, 200g steamed refined wheat flour, l00g puffed bengalgram flour obtained from above method, 95g hydrogenated fat, 1.75g gum arabic, 7.5g baking powder, 5g cumin seed and 12.5g salt are mixed well in a planetary mixer for 2 min and made a dough with 300 ml water for another 5 min. 4. The dough is then extruded to a Chakli strand, cut into 3 cm long pieces. 5. The preshaped Chakli strands are then baked in a baking oven at 220°C for 20 min to get 460g ready-to-eat maize-wheat mixed Chakli which is then packed in moisture proof polyethylene pouches. Example 3 Wheat Chakli 1. 400g refined wheat flour is steamed at 100°C in autoclave for 20 min. 2. 1 lOg puffed bengalgram is ground to 85 mesh BSS size flour. 3. 400g steamed refined wheat flour and lOOg puffed bengalgram flour obtained from above method, 95g hydrogenated fat, 1.75g gum arabic, 7.5g baking powder, 5g cumin seed and 12.5g salt are mixed well in a planetary mixer for 2 min and made a dough with 180ml water for another 5 min. 4. The dough is then extruded to a Chakli strand, cut into 3 cm long pieces. The preshaped Chakli strands are then baked in a baking oven at 220°C for 19 min to get 460g ready-to-eat wheat Chakli which is then packed in moisture proof polyethylene pouches. Example 4 Rice-wheat mixed Chakli 1. 210 g milled raw rice is washed with water and kept for draining water for 1 h. It is then roasted in gram roaster at 120°C for 15 min and ground to 60 mesh BSS size flour. 2. 200g refined wheat flour is steamed at 100°C in autoclave for 20 min. 3. 1 lOg blackgram dhal is roasted at 120°C for 15 min, cooled and ground to 85 mesh BSS size flour. 4. 200g roasted rice flour, 200g steamed refined wheat flour and lOOg roasted blackgram flour obtained from above method, 95g hydrogenated fat, 1.75g gum arabic, 7.5 baking powder, 5g cumin seed and 12.5g salt are mixed well in a planetary mixer for 2 min and made a dough with 215 ml water for another 5 min. 5. The dough is then extruded to a Chakli strand, cut into 3 cm long pieces. 6. The preshaped Chakli strands are then baked in a baking oven at 220°C for 20 min to get 470g ready-to-eat rice-wheat mixed Chakli which is then packed in moisture proof polyethylene pouches. Example 5 Maize Chakli 1. 400g maize flour of 85 mesh size is steamed at 100°C in autoclave for 20 min. 2. 1 lOg blackgram dhal is roasted at 120°C for 15 min and ground to 85 mesh BSS size flour. 400g steamed maize flour and lOOg roasted blackgram flour 6btainedfrom above method, 95g hydrogenated fat, 1.75g gum arabic, 7.5g baking powder, 5g cumin seed and 12.5g saltare mixed well in a planetary mixer for 2 min and made a dough with 400 ml water for another 5 min. 4. The dough is then extruded to a Chakli strand, cut into 3 cm long pieces. The preshaped Chakli strands are then baked in a baking oven at 220°C for 20 min to get ready-to-eat maize Chakli which is then packed in moisture proof polyethylene pouches. Advantages of the invention: 1. The process can be introduced for production of a low-fat traditional snack product - like Chakli. 2. The process can be rendered crisp even without frying in oil. 3. The process provides a shelf-stable ready-to-eat traditional product Chakli.. 4. The process provides a health snack product which is low in fat and rich in water soluble dietary fiber. 5. The process provides an improvement of shape retention, dough sheeting, cutting and better final product quality. 6. The product developed by this process suits Indian palate and economy. We claim: 1. A process for the preparation of a low fat snack like chakli which comprises; a) mixing steamed maize flour or steamed wheat flour, roasted and ground rice flour or blackgram flour, puffed bengalgram dhal flour of mesh 30-100 BS size, preferably 60-85 BS size in a ratio of rice to blackgram 4:1 to 3.5:1.5, Maize to wheat flour 2.5:1.5 to 2:l,wheat to bengalgram 4:1 to 3.5:1.5, rice to wheat 1.5:1 to 1:1, Maize to blackgram 4:1 to 3.5:1.5, with 12-15% hydrogenated fat, 0.005-006% baking soda, binder selected from Arabic gum, guar gum or mixture thereof, 0.012-0.10% salt, optionally spice additives as herein described and water to make a dough, characterized in that the flour used are steamed maize flour or steamed wheat flour, roasted and ground rice flour or blackgram flour, puffed bengalgram dhal flour of mesh 30-100 BS size, preferably 60-85 BS size. b) extruding the dough using conventional extruders to obtain a strand of 3-4 cm long strips, c) baking the pre-shaped strips obtained from the above step b) in a baking oven at a temperature of 200 - 240°C for a period in the range of 15-25 minutes to obtain ready to eat chakli like product. 2 A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the spice additives used is selected from black pepper, cumin seed powder, chilly powder, asafoetida or mixture thereof. 3. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the steaming of the flour is carried out for a period of 5 to 50 min in an autoclave or a pressure cooker under atmospheric pressure. 4. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the use of arabic gum or guar gum is in the range of 0. 1 to 5 % as a dough improver that increases binding and easy extrudability. 4. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the roasting of rice and blackgram is done for 5-60 minutes, preferably for 10 to 20 min in a grain roaster at 60 to 200 deg.C. 5. A process for the preparation for a low fat snack like Chakli substantially as herein described with reference to the examples.

Documents:

381-del-2002-abstract.pdf

381-del-2002-claims.pdf

381-del-2002-complete specification (granted).pdf

381-del-2002-correspondence-others.pdf

381-del-2002-correspondence-po.pdf

381-del-2002-description (complete).pdf

381-del-2002-form-1.pdf

381-del-2002-form-2.pdf

381-del-2002-form-3.pdf

381-del-2002-form-4.pdf