Litti Chokha Recipe
Litti Chokha is probably the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Bihari cuisine. It is a traditional delicacy mainly eaten in Bihar and Jharkhand. This popular dish consists of round dough balls prepared from whole wheat flour (atta) and stuffed with the delicious roasted Bengal gram (sattu), mixed with assorted herbs and spices. In villages, it is usually roasted over coal or cow dung cakes or wood, with the aid of clarified butter (ghee). Don’t worry; my recipe does not require you to do all that. Interestingly, Litti is often confused with Baati due to its texture, but the sattu filling in it is a major difference. To nail this recipe, two steps should be carried out with precision- preparing the filling and cooking of the stuffed Littis. The stuffing mixture should be adequately damp, not too dry or too moist. The spices in it can be added according to taste. After stuffing this mixture into the dough balls and sealing them properly at the ends, these balls are roasted in a pre-heated grill. Care must be taken to cook them in medium heat, and flip them regularly to ensure that both sides become crispy brown. These Littis are then dunked in clarified butter (ghee) for a few minutes so that they absorb the buttery goodness. In Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, Litti is traditionally served with Chokha, a mixed vegetable extravaganza. Do check out the recipe for Chokha too on my website.
You may also like our other Bihari recipes Sattu ka paratha, Dal Bhari Puri, Dal Pitthi, Pittha
How  to make Litti Chokha
Ingredients
|
|
For Dough |
|
| Wheat flour (atta) | 3 cups |
| Refined oil | 2 table spoon |
| Salt (namak) | to taste |
| Carom seeds (ajwain) | ¼ tea spoon |
| Water | |
For Stuffing |
|
| Flour of roasted Bengal gram (sattu) | 1½ cups |
| Onion (payaz), finely chopped | 5-6 table spoons |
| Garlic (lahsan), finely chopped | 1 table spoon |
| Ginger (adrakh), grated | ½ tea spoon |
| Green chilli (hari mirch) finely chopped | 3-4 table spoons |
| Green coriander (hara dhaniya) | 4-5 table spoons |
| Onion seeds (kalaungi) | ¼ tea spoon |
| Carom seeds (ajwain) | ¼ tea spoon |
| Lemon juice (nimmbo ka ras) | of 1 lemon |
| Salt (namak) | to taste |
For Serving |
|
| Clarified butter (ghee) melted | 1 cup |
Method
Dough
- 1. Mix wheat flour, carom, salt and vegetable oil.
- 2. Add water and make stiff dough.
- 3. Divide the dough into 10 equal parts.
Filling
- 1. Take roasted gram flour in a bowl, add onion, garlic, ginger, green chillies, coriander leaves, onion seeds, carom seeds and salt into it.
- 2. Then add lemon juice and little water and mix it.
- 3. Ensure that the mixture is powdery but damp.
- 4. It should not be too dry or too wet.
To proceed
- 1. Take one part of the dough and make into a ball.
- 2. Now hold it between your fingers and press with your thumbs to make it like a bowl.
- 3. Now fill it with stuffing and bring the edges together and seal it and make balls.
- 4. Now repeat the process and make all litti.
- 5. Traditionally it is roasted in charcoal fire.
- 6. It can also be prepared gas tandoor or electric tandoor.
- 7. Put all the litti balls in preheated grill and roast in medium heat for 20-25 minutes.
- 8. Keep on turning the litti balls and roast them evenly and are crisp.
- 9. Once properly roasted, take the litti from the grill and apply little pressure to make an opening and put each litti inside the ghee.
- 10. Leave this dipped in clarified butter for 10-15 minutes before serving.
- Recipe Type : Bihar, Regional, Roti/ Indian breads, Vegetarian, Vegetarian
Excellent recipe. It appears that the recipe has been directly sourced from Bihar/UP, the homeland of litti
You make thngis so clear. Thanks for taking the time!