Litti Choka - Famous Traditional Bihari snack

 

Litti Chokha , a traditional dish of Bihar served as an evening snack . In this Litti are served with chokha made of potato , brinjal and tomato .History says Litti was eaten by the peasants and farmers of Bihar.

For the December 2017 , Ssshhhh secretly cooking , I was paired with Archana Potdar of The Mad Scientist's Kitchen . She gave me the secret ingredients as sattu and . I was delighted to try out this Litti along with Chokha. This was a wonderful snack and everyone in our family liked it.

According to Wikipedia , Litti , along with chokha is a complete meal originated from the indian subcontinent and popular in Indian states of bihar , Jharkhand , parts of eastern Uttar Pradesh as well as Nepalese state of Madhesh.

It is a dough ball made up of whole wheat flour and stuffed with sattu ( roasted chickpea flour ) mixed with herbs and `spijces and then roasted over coal  or cow dung cakes or wood then it is tossed with  lots of ghee . It may be eaten with  yogurt , baigan bharta , alu bharta and papad. The litti are traditionally baked over a cow dung fire.

 Herbs and spices used to flavor the litti include onion , garlic , ginger , coriander leaves , lime juice , carom seeds , nigella seeds  and salt . Tasty pickles can also be used to add spice flavor.

 In the western Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh , litti is served with murgh Korma .

Litti was a war food , it is carried by the soldiers in ancient time along with dry sattu powder. Litti can last for day and it gives us protein , carbohydrates and other minerals . It could be consumed on long march or during rest hours . Litti helps body retain water content of the body if consumed with Jaggery.

As I can’t find dried cow dung , I baked the littis in the oven.

Requirements : 

For Litti : 

2 cup Wholewheat flour 

1 Tbs Ghee 

Half tsp salt 

1 cup Water 

For Litti Filling :   

1 cup Sattu ( Roasted Bengalgram flour ) 

1 tsp cumin seeds 

1 Tsp Fennel seeds 

1 tsp carom seeds 

1/2 tsp Onion Seeds 

1 tsp red chilli powder 

2 finely chopped green chilli 

1 tsp finely chopped Ginger 

1 tsp finely chopped garlic

2 tbs chopped coriander 

2 tbs lemon juice 

2 tbs vegetable oil 

water as required 

salt to taste

For Tamatar Chokha : 

5 medium  tomato 

2 Green chilli 

4 cloves Garlic

4 tbs chopped coriander leaves

2 tbs lemon Juice

salt to taste 

For Aloo Chokha : 

3 Potato 

1 onion 

3 Green chilli 

4 cloves garlic

1/2 of Lemon Juice 

2 tbs chopped Coriander leaves 

salt to taste

For Serving : 

Ghee 

Method: 

Making of Litti : 

Outer Covering of Litti : 

In a bowl , mix together whole wheat flour , salt and ghee. Sprinkle little water at a time and mix well. 

Knead a soft and supple dough. Let it rest for 30 minutes. 

Stuffing of Litti : 

I like using the spices as a whole , so while eating when you bite the spices it will be a nice punch. 

You can use a morter to crush the spices and add , if you don't like to bite them. 

In a bowl , add the sattu , cumin , fennel , carom , onion seeds and mix well. 

To this add the red chilli powder , salt , chopped coriander leaves , green chilli , ginger and garlic. While mixing , just crush these ingredients with your hand to infuse the flavor. 

Now , add the lemon juice and vegetable oil . Mix all the ingredients well. 

The mixture may seem dry , sprinkle little water and mix well till you feel moisture in the sattu mixture. 

If this mixture is dry , it will be even more dry after the baking of litti. So make sure the sattu mixture is somewhat moist. 

Shaping of Litti : 

Divide the whole wheat dough in to small balls.

You can use roti press to flatten the dough balls.

I shaped with hands , to a cup and placed a spoonful of stuffing of sattu mixture and sealed the edges and shaped to a round ball. 

Repeat the same for the remaining dough.

Arrange the prepared litti on the baking tray and brush melted butter on them.

Bake on the preheated oven @ 200*C for 30 - 40 minutes or till the the outer covering of litti became brown. 

After half of the baking time , turn over the littis to other side , so  the whole of the litti is cooked evenly.

Making of Tamatar Chokha : 

                 

Tamatar means Tomato in Hindi .Grill the Tomatoes, when they crack and charred , take off flame. 

Let it cool and peel off the skin and chop roughly.

Add chopped green chilli , Garlic , coriander leaves and lemon juice.

Add salt as required.

Mix well, Tamatar chokha is ready.

Making of Aloo Chokha : 

                               

Aloo means Potato in Hindi . 

Boil the potates, peel off the skin. 

Mash the potatoes. Add the chopped onion , green chilli , Garlic , coriander leaves , salt and lemon juice. Mix all well.

Aloo Chokha is ready.

Serving of Litti : 

Serve the Littis with a bowl of each chokha along with a bowl of melted ghee.

Note : 

As , the roasted bengal gram flour ( sattu ) is not available in my place , i grounded the roasted bengal gram to fine powder on my own. 

Some add carom and nigella ( onion ) seeds to the dough for outer covering , I kept mine as plain dough.