Litti Chokha

Litti Chokha recipe - a rustic and a traditional dish stuffed whole wheat dough balls, where the stuffing is a spice mixed of roasted gram flour or sattu. This recipe comes from Bihar and Jharkand region of India

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Litti Chokha Recipe

Ingredients:

Outer cover of Litti

1. Whole wheat flour - 2 Cups/240 grams

2. Salt - 1/4 tsp

3. Ghee or Oil - 1 tbsp

4. Water - 3/4 to 1 Cup (add as required)

Litti Stuffing

1. Sattu (roasted gram flour) - 1 Cup

2. Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp

3. Saunf (fennel seeds or aniseeds) - 1/2 tsp

4. Ajwain (carom seeds or bishops weed) - 1/2 tsp

5. Nigella Seeds (Kalonji or Onion Seeds) - 1/2 tsp

6. Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp

7. Chopped Green Chillies - 1 to 2 tsp

8. Finely Chopped Ginger - 1 tsp

9. Finely Chopped Garlic - 1 tsp

10. Chopped Coriander Leaves - 2 tbsp

11. Black Salt - 1/4 tsp

12. Salt (add as per taste)

13. Lemon Juice - 2 tsp

14. Mustard Oil - 2 tsp

15. Water - 1 to 2 tbsp (add as required)

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Instructions:

Preparing dough cover for litti

1. In a mixing bowl, take 2 cups of Atta (Whole Wheat Flour) approx. (240 grams) and 1/4 tsp of Salt. Also add 1 tbsp of Ghee or Oil

2. Then, Add water in parts and knead to a smooth soft dough. Depending on the quality of the flour you can add between 3/4 to 1 cup

3. Knead till soft and smooth. Cover the dough and keep aside

Making stuffing for Litti

1. In a morter and pestle take 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds and 1/2 tsp saunf (fennel seeds). Lightly crush them and keep aside.

2. Take 1 cup of sattu/roasted gram flour in a mixing bowl or pan.

3. Add the slightly crushed cumin seeds and fennel seeds .

4. Proceed to add: 1/2 tsp Ajwain, 1/2 tsp Nigella seeds, 1/2 tsp red chili powder, 1 to 2 tsp chopped green chillies, 1 tsp finely shopped ginger, 1 tsp finely chopped garlic, 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves and 1/4 black salt. Add regular salt as per taste.

5. Add 2 tsp of Lemon juice and tsp of mustard oil.

6. Mix all very well.

7. Sprinkle 1 to 2 tbsp of water all over and mix the flour with added water evenly. Add more water if required. The sattu stuffing mixture should not be too dry nor too wet. If the mixture is dry, then the dryness is felt when the littis is being eaten.

Stuffing and Shaping Litti

1. After 30 minutes, make small to medium sized balls from the dough.

2. Sprinkling some flour, roll each dough ball to a circle or about 5 to 6 inches

3. Place 2 to 3 tbsp of the stuffing in the centre.

4. Pleat and then join the edges. Press the joint part and lightly roll the stuffed dough balls between your palms to then get a result of a round shape dough ball. Keep Aside.

5. Another Method: Flatten the dough ball with your palms and make a shallow cup.

6. Now place the stuffing

7. Gently bring together the outer dough cover in the centre, while pressing the stuffing. Join and then seal the edges. This is a tricky method. Please use the method which suits you.

8. Keep the prepared littis under a cotton towel or napkin, so that the dough does not dry out.

9. Prepare all the stuffed littis this way and place them on a baking tray, which has been greased with some oil. Do grease baking tray well, otherwise the littis can stuck to the tray.

Baking Litti

1. Place the littis in a preheated oven at 200 degrees celcius. Preheat the oven for 20 minutes at 200 degrees celcius prior to baking.

2. After 10 to 15 minutes of baking, remove the tray and flip each litti. Keep the tray back in the oven. This has to be done once or twice more for even baking of littis.

3. Bake till the crust looks done with some light brown or golden brown spots on them. Timing will vary upon size and litres of oven. This took me over 45 minutes for these to bake.

4. Brush the littis with some melted ghee all over

5. Serve these bihari style litti with baingan chokha, aloo chokha and tamatar chokha accompanied with a small bowl of melted ghee. The litti is broken, dipped in ghee and then had with the chokha.