Litti

This is one of the staple food of Bihar in India. The main ingredient of this is Sattu(which is basically baked fried and powdered chickpeas). It is a healthy food. Few days back I made Sattu Parathas. My neighbors are from Bihar. So I always get a chance to eat these food once in a while. I learned to make Sattu parathas from Archana. My another neighbor Madhuram gets me Sattu paratha and Aloo dish. That combination sooo delicious. Sattu powder is not available here in Qatar. So I once dared to make it. But mistakenly I dint discard the skin and I powdered along with it. 2nd time I used the edible chana dal’s powder. It tasted good, but not as perfect as Sattu.

Archana gave me a packet of sattu which she got from India. So I thought of trying Litti. I came to know about this recipe from my another neighbor. According to him Bihari Litti is generally topped with melted pure desi ghee and usually served with Chokha(a spicy mashed potatos dish to which sometimes baked and mashed Baigan or Eggplant is also added). He shared the recipe with me.

We can cook Litti in 2 ways.
1. Bake in tandoor or oven.
2. Cook in boiled water and then deep fry them.

To make the sattu paratha

Make chappathi dough with 1 1/2 cup of Wheat Flour

And for the Filling:

Sattu/chickpea split peas powder – 1 cup
onion -1 medium very finely chopped
green chillies -2 finely chopped
garlic cloves -3 finely chopped
ginger cube – 1/2 inch finely chopped
carom seeds – 1 tbsp
coriander leaves – 2 tbsp finely chopped
oil – 2 tbsp
lemon juice – 3 tbsp
Dry Mango Powder/Amchur – 1 tbsp (or mango pickle gravy)

1. Make the dough and keep aside covered for 20 min
2. Mix the fillings very well.
3. Add salt and lemon juice according to your taste(i used the whole lemon juice)
4. Divide the dough and filling to equal portion.
5. Flatten the dough ball a bit and stuff the sattu mix. Seal the edges nicely and make balls. (you can flatten them or press to form a disc)
6. Repeat the same with the rest of the balls.

To cook Littis(Method 2)
1. Boil water in a very large sauce pan, which is sufficient enough for all litti to immerse and cooked
2. Add salt to taste and 2-3 drops of refined oil
3. Slip in each Littis without touching each other at the beginning stage.
4. Cook this littis in the boiling water for around 20 minutes.
5. Remove the littis from water and drain them completely.
6. Heat oil in a wok or kadai.
7. Deep fry or shallow fry the littis till it turns golden brown. (I pan fried the littis)
8. The best part is it wont absorb oil as it is already cooked.

I dint prepare the Chokha . I should prepare it next time. The ingredients for Chokha are Eggplant, Tomato, Mustard oil, green chillies, salt. Sometimes boiled potatoes are also added. Basically the Eggplant(Baigan) and Tomatoes are baked first. Then it is mashed with other ingredients and served with Litti