Traditional Bihari Litti Chokha Recipe
Litti is a snack food found in India's Bihar and Nepalese state of Madhesh. It consists of wheat and sattu combined along with spiced and stuffed into maida balls and deep fried in ghee or baked in the oven.
Although Litti very often confused with Baati from Rajasthan, it is a completely different dish in terms of taste, texture and preparation. It may be eaten with yogurt, baigan bharta, alu bharta, and papad. The litti are traditionally baked over a cow-dung fire, but you can either deep fry the littis or bake it in the oven.
Serve the Litti Chokha along with Aloo Choka and Baingan (Choka) Bharta, Yogurt & Pickled Green Chilies for lunch or dinner.
If you like this you might like a few of our favorite traditional recipes from India like - Pista Burfi Recipe, Moong Dal Sookhi Sabzi, Godhi Chutney Podi Recipe, Punjabi Chana Masala and Dabeli
You can use Vivatta Whole Wheat Flour - the pure chakki atta to make the litti. They bring out great flavors of the wheat into the dish.
45 M
60 M
105 M
4 Servings
Ingredients
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Ingredients For Litti
- 3-1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
- 3/4 cup Ghee
- 1/3 teaspoon Baking soda
- 2 tablespoons Curd (Dahi / Yogurt)
- 1/2 teaspoon Ajwain (Carom seeds)
- 1 teaspoon Salt , to taste
- Lukewarm Water , to knead the flour Ingredients for Filling (Pitti)
- 1-1/2 cups Roasted Gram Flour (sattu)
- 1 inch Ginger , grated
- 2 cloves Garlic , grated
- 2 Green Chillies , finely chopped
- Coriander (Dhania) Leaves , a small bunch finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon Ajwain (Carom seeds)
- 1/2 teaspoon Kalonji (Onion Nigella Seeds)
- 1/2 teaspoon Fennel seeds (Saunf) , pounded
- 1 tablespoon Mustard oil
- Salt , to taste
- 1 teaspoon Lemon juice
How to make Traditional Bihari Litti Chokha Recipe
To begin making the Traditional Bihari Litti Chokha Recipe, we will first get all the ingredients ready and keep it by the aside.
In a large mixing bowl, sieve flour, salt and baking soda in a large bowl. Add ajwain and ghee and mix everything well until you get coarse crumbs. Add warm water little at a time and knead to make a firm dough and smooth dough.
Cover the dough in a wet muslin cloth and keep aside for 20 minutes.
While the dough is resting, we will prepare the filling (pitti)
In a large mixing bowl, mix sattu, ajwain, kalonji, fennel seeds, mustard oil, grated ginger, garlic, green chilies, coriander, salt and lemon juice. Stir well to combine all the ingredients. Check the salt and spices and adjust to suit your taste. If you find the mixture too dry, add a little water to make a lumpy mix (which is still dry and not completely wet).
Keep this pitti mixture aside.
The final step is to make the Litti.
Place the rested dough on a flat counter and knead again for 5 minutes.
Make small lemon sized balls from the dough and roll it like pooris. Hold the poori between your palm and fill 1 large tablespoon of pitti-sattu filling mixture into the dough.
Gather the sides of the poori and bring them together on top and seal the ball. Press the ball gently to flatten it.
Proceed to make Litti balls the similar way and arrange them on a greased baking sheet. Brush the litti with ghee, so the tops get crisp while baking.
Preheat the oven to 180 C. Once the oven is preheated, place place the litti tray on the middle rack and bake the littis till golden in color. Different ovens have different heating times - it an take anywhere between 20 to 30 minutes to bake and turn golden completely.
Once baked, remove the Litti from the oven and allow them to cool a bit before serving.
Serve the Litti Chokha along with Aloo Choka and Baingan (Choka) Bharta, Yogurt & Pickled Green Chilies for lunch or dinner.
Shaheen Ali
Born and raised in a gastronomic family where cooking is most relied on approximation and eyeballing the ingredients or ratios and proportions for measurements. A physiotherapist by profession who came into blogging almost a year back with a motive to pen down my experience of learning and refining in the journey with food from home and the world beyond, from street food to the fine dining. I live with a motto in life that is 'Life is beautiful if you have good food around'
