Litty Chokha- Delicacy from Bihar

This is a traditional dish from Bihar. I have never tasted this dish before, its only recently I came accross this dish and really wanted to try it out. I didn't have any reference to compare with so if you have tried this dish before and you make my version too do let me know how close it is to the one made in households of Bihar. I found several recipes online but they all differ some way or the other. Some say to deep fry whereas others suggest do it in the oven. The traditional method was to make in the cow-dung fire which does not sound very appetizing. But the process in which the littis get cooked, sounds similar to baking in the oven. Hence I went with it. I have a strong feeling that deep frying litties will make it taste like “Khasta kachori ” but you can try that as well. Either way I knew its was going to taste great!   For chokha some use roasted eggplant with potatoes which complements this dish very well.

Ingredients:

For the filling:

6 tbsp Sattu (roasted chick peas flour)

1“ ginger (finely chopped)

3-4 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

3-4 green chillies (finely chopped)

1 tsp of kalonji (Nigella seeds)

1 tsp Ajwain

2 tsp of lemon juice

hand full of chopped coriander

salt

1 tsp red chilli powder (optional)

2-3 tbsp of water

For the dough:

1 cup of Atta (whole meal flour)

2-3 tsp of oil

pinch of salt

2-3 tbsp of yoghurt

enough water to make a hard dough

For Alu chokha:

2-3 medium size potato boiled and roughly mashed

1 Red Onion thinly chopped

1 tsp whole cumin seeds

1 whole dried red chilli (broken into 2-3 pieces)

3-4 green chillies (finely chopped)

oil for frying

1 tsp Aamchur powder

hand full of chopped coriander

Method:

Start with the filling. Mix all the ingredients except water and then slowly add the water spoon by spoon. The filing should not be like paste or very dry that it falls apart. if it reaches a state where you try to press the mix in you palm and it holds its shape then its done. Check the seasoning and keep it aside.

Now for the dough add the salt and the oil to the flour first then add the curd and mix well. Add enough water to make a stiff dough. The dough should not be soft so add water slowly as you kneed the dough. Now make small balls out of the dough and start making the pocket for the filling. Remember to make the outer layer of the dough ball thin so that you can stuff the filling as much as possible. Then close the pocket and give it a shape of round ball. Repeat the procedure for all the dough you have or until you run out of the filling.

At this point either you can deep fry the littis or bake in the oven. For baking do the following. Pre heat the oven at 180 degree C then place the littis in the oven for 20 minutes or till they are turned light brown in colour. Take the baking tray out and turn them and place the tray back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes or till you see an even light brown colour on the littis. Take them out again and dip the littis in oil or melted ghee and place them back in the oven for may be 5 minutes or so. Take them out and let it rest for some time.  

While the litties are in oven make the chokha. Heat oil in a pan and fry the onion, chopped green chillies, dried red chilli and cumin seeds in that. Add salt, when the onions are soft and little brown add the boiled and roughly mashed potato in to it and start mixing. Add the aamchur powder and mix the whole thing till its almost a homogeneous mixture. Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves and serve with the littis. Enjoy.