Litti Chokha

Litti Chokha

Litti Chokha is a dish that my husband is very fond of, and brings up N number of emotions from his childhood days. Because he would buy it from a nearby Bihari makeshift hotel in the mornings and gulp it down, in those days it was luxury for him as a child to buy breakfast from a shop rather than eat whats made at home.

Litti Chokha as I understand is a Bihari dish and quite a staple. But being raised in the south and not knowing any Biharis growing up I had no clue what it was nor did I really care. But post marriage when I was in full experimental mode and high on having my own kitchen that I could cook in, this dish always popped from my hubbys mouth and I had no clue what litti was or for that matter what sattu was and my hubby didn't have much clue as to how to make it nor did my MIL. At some point my hubby settled with life that his wife doesn't know anything about litti and for that matter hasn't even tasted it in her life. So he began a new challenge when we go to Durgapur(that's where my hubbys from) I'll make you eat litti after that you could try. But unfortunately when we did visit my in laws that year the Bihari Hotel of my hubbys childhood wasn't there anymore. After a lot of looking around he came home one day saying I found litti but its not made on coal but on tava. So it pretty much the same idea make the stuffed ball only flatten this a little like a kachori and roast it over a tava like you would for rotis. So that was my first time eating a litti, but for my hubby it was a disappointing experience since he really did not like the taste.

A few years after this happened and we moved to Delhi and one day my hubby notice this thele wala selling litti in Gurgaon so while we waited for our order I got see how these littis were made. And on another instance I got to see how Chokha was made over TV (sorry don't remember the show). Post discovering this litti wala we found many other such carts and from time to time I got to try the different versions some with baking powder would be spongy, the ones without baking powder would be not spongy but soft enough because the dough was kneaded well. Some just had too much soda for my liking so on and so forth. So after getting well acquainted I did try this out and in my hubbys words I nailed it. For it feels like a stuffed roti in ball form that's it, its the chokha that I have a strong liking for, the flavor from the raw mustard oil and chopped raw onions just works for me.

If you don't have an oven or don't want to burn coal and roast over open fire you could always flatten the ball into thick disc like kachori and just roast them over on the tava.

Ingredients

For Litti                                                                                           For Stuffing

wheat flour 2 cups + little extra for dusting                                     sattu 3-4 tablespoon

baking powder 1/2 teaspoon (optional)                                            chopped onion 2-3 tablespoon

water for kneading                                                                            chopped dhaniya 2 tablespoon

salt 1 teaspoon                                                                                   salt to taste 

4 tablespoon oil/ghee                                                                         lemon juice 2 teaspoon

For Chokha

1 big brinjal

1 medium tomato

2 medium boiled potatoes

1 big onion chopped

1/2 green chilli

1/2 teaspoon chilli powder

1/2 teaspoon turemeric powder

salt to taste

lemon juice 3 teaspoon

chopped dhaniya/coriander leaves 

mustard oil about 1/4 cup

Method

For Litti : In a big bowl or thal that  you use to knead dough put wheat flour, salt and 2 tablespoon ghee or oil and crumble the flour, you can add the remaining oil if needed. Once you have a crumbly dough add the baking powder and then pour in water little by little and knead into a nice soft dough like you would for roti. In the end just put a teaspoon of oil and knead one last time and cover and let the dough rest for 30-40 minutes.

Stuffing:  In a medium bowl mix all the ingredients into a crumbly mix and keep aside.

Now when your dough has rested take some dough like you would to make a roti, and flatten it with your hand and cup it in your palm and fill a spoon full of the stuffing in middle and bring all the corners into the middle and roll into a ball. Try to not over fill the rotis or else you will have cracks and the stuffing spilling out.

pre heat your oven at the highest temperature (mine is 350c) and once you roll out all the balls place them on a greased tray and place in the oven. Now in ten minute intervals check if the littis are coloring properly and roll them around accordingly. Once they are completely cooked and look well done (I needed about 30 minutes in total) remove and place in a bowl with some ghee and roll all the balls and keep aside.

For Chokha : Over the gas on open fire place your brinjal and roast well until completely charred and oozy, place in a  big bowl and cover with a lid so steam doesn't escape.

Repeat same above process for the tomato aswell, and place together.

Once the brinjal and tomato have cooled down  10-15 minutes later, peel them and place in a kadai Peel the boiled potato and also place in the kadai with brinjal and tomato, now smash all of them together using your hand. Once they are mushy enough sprinkle in turmeric, chilli powder, salt, and about 4-5 tablespoon mustard oil. Now place on heat and start frying the mixture a little, when it begins to bubble on the side add the green chilli, chopped onions, chopped dhaniya and lemon juice and mix really well. Continue to keep on heat for not more than 5 minutes. Once you take off the heat add the remaining mustard oil little by little and mix well. This way you control the quantity  and reduce if you want. Garnish with chopped onion and Serve with hot littis