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    Home » By Category » Breakfast

    Published: Apr 4, 2014 · Modified: Sep 9, 2020 by Usha Rao

    Litti Chokha from Bihar

    Bihar is one of the Northern states of India. Neighboring states are West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh and shares an international border with Nepal in the North. Like with any other state, neighboring states have influenced the cuisine of the state. Bihari cuisine is mainly vegetarian but the cuisine also has some non-vegetarian food. Fish is a common food considering the number of rivers flowing through the state and the great Ganges is one of them. Chicken and mutton are the most consumed meats in the state. Dairy products such as yogurt, buttermilk, butter are part of the cuisine.

    Litti and Chokha in a plate.

    Cuisine is lot similar to the North Indian cuisine and is also influenced by the Bengali cuisine, the neighboring state in the east. Food served changes seasonally and so does the traditional thali. No matter which reason, the thali always has rice, roti, achar & dal and some form of dairy products. Mustard oil as well vegetable oil is used for cooking and like the Bengali’s Bihari’s also use panchforan, a mixture of 5 spices; cumin, kalongi ~ onion seeds, saunf ~ fennel, mustard and carom seeds ~ ajwain. One of the unique techniques used in this cooking is fire roasting vegetables and chilies, specially to prepare chokha. Chokha is mashed vegetable preparation, usually prepared with potatoes, tomatoes and brinjal. One of the three vegetables or a combination of these three is used to prepare chokha. Chokha is similar to the famous bhartha with a slight variation in preparation.

    Litti dunked in ghee.

    Some of the popular foods from this state are sattu paratha, litti, chokha, Bihari kababs and Postaa-dana kaa halwaa. If I am not mistaken, posta dana ka halwa is halwa prepared with poppy seeds. Some of the traditional foods from the region are khichdi, kadhi bari, pitha, dhuska, litti chokha, thekua to name a few. The region of Champaran is famous for a mutton grilled dish called Taash. Thekua is a sweet made with whole wheat flour and jaggery or sugar. It is usually prepared as offering to god on Chhat Puja.

    Chokha in a bowl
    mashed potato served for litti.

    Sattu is a powder of fried chana dal or daliya or putnalu in Telugu. This powder is considered very high energy food and it is used as filling to make parathas and litti.

    Kadhi Bari – Bari are fried dumpling made with gram flour. Seasoned gram flour dough is made into small balls and deep fried. These are then added to kadhi. Kadhi is spicy yogurt gravy and gram flour.

    Pitha – are similar to momos, which could be salty or sweet. The base of the momos is made with rice flour, stuffed with filling and steamed.

    Today’s recipe is a popular food from Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh. Litti Chokha is a common food in the Bihar, served for breakfast or as a tea time snack and sometimes even for lunch with dal. Litti is similar Bati from Rajasthan but litti is stuffed with seasoned fried gram flour powder and baked on coal or in an oven. I initially wanted to make only chokha but then decided to make litti as well. I liked them a lot and Mr.U liked the chokha. I think he would have liked litti had I used ground chicken for the filling. Next time I make the litti, I am going to use it instead of sattu and have a feeling he will love it. I do not know if those will still be called litti.

    When i took the pictures, I forgot to take a picture of bowl of chokha. The photo above was taken the next day. The day and time of the day makes a huge difference on how the color of the food looks in photos. I used the same wooden boards for the background and backdrop in all the photos but the bowl of chokha photo was taken next day. The color of the board looks different in bowl of chokha photo. If I remember, it was cloudy on the evening I made these and next day was bright and sunny. Hence you can see how bright and colorful the photo looks in the third picture, bowl of chokha. I did not adjust or edit the color of any of the photos. The only editing was watermark and added bit of sharpness to the photos.

    Source: UK Rasoi
    Chokha
    Ingredients:

    • 6 Baby Potatoes or 1 cup boiled and mashed Potatoes
    • 1 large Tomato
    • 3 big Cloves Garlic
    • ⅓ - ½ cup chopped Onion or ½ large Onion chopped
    • 1 - 2 Green Chilies (I used 2)
    • ½ tbsp. grated Ginger
    • 1 tsp. Mustard Oil
    • 1 - 2 tbsp. chopped Coriander Leaves ~ Cilantro

    Preparation:

    • Boil potatoes and mash them coarsely and keep it aside.
    • Roast garlic and tomatoes on gas flame or in the oven. If roasting in the oven, place it in 400 F oven for 20 – 25 minutes or until roasted. I tried roasting it in cast iron pan. Garlic roasted fine and even the tomatoes also roasted fine. But since the oven was on, after roasting for 5 – 7 minutes in a pan, I put them in the oven along with the litti for 12 minutes.
    • Cool and remove the skin of the tomato. The skin will easily come off if the tomatoes are roasted properly. Mash garlic and tomatoes with a back of a spoon.
    • Mix all the ingredients listed on chokha and it is ready to serve.

    Note:

    • Mustard oil is a must to get the true flavors of chokha. But a very good substitute for mustard oil would be extra virgin olive oil in this recipe, as oil is not heated in this recipe. Even olive oil would work.

    Litti
    Ingredients:

    • 2 cups Wheat Flour
    • ½ teaspoon Ajwain ~ Carom Seeds
    • 2 tbsp. Butter
    • ¼ tsp. Baking Soda
    • ⅓ tsp. Salt
    • ⅔ – ¾ cups Water or the amount required to knead the dough

    Stuffing

    • ½ cup Dhaliya and when powdered it was ⅔ cups
    • 1 – 2 Green Chilies (I used 2)
    • ¼ cup chopped Coriander Leaves ~ Cilantro
    • ½ - ¾” long Ginger chopped
    • ½ tsp. Ajwain ~ Carom Seeds
    • ½ tsp. Salt
    • 1 tbsp. Lime ~ Lemon Juice
    • 1 tbsp. Mustard Oil

    Preparation:

    • Sieve the flour and make soft dough using all the ingredients listed under litti. Cover and keep it aside for 30 minutes.
    • Filling: Lightly toast daliya in a dry pan. Cool it and then grid it to powder. This step can be skipped.
    • Mix all the ingredients listed under stuffing and mix well. The texture will be crumbly. If required add some water but it should not be runny.
    • Make the Litti: Make 10 – 12 balls with the dough. Take each ball in palms and make a 3-4” diameter discs, like small poori or chapati. Do not use any flour.
    • Place 1 ½ - 2 tsp. of filling in middle of each disc, cover the filling by wrapping the dough around the filling on all sides to form a pouch to make round ball. Press the ball between palms to flatten the litti. While covering the dough disc around the filling, there will be some excess dough. Pinch it off the litti or can press it into litti. I did both, for few I pinched off the excess dough and for some I just pressed back into litti. I liked the ones for which I pinched off the dough.
    • Traditionally litti is cooked on fire or tandoor. In modern kitchens, over or stove top cooking works. Bake in preheated 400F over for 20 – 30 minutes. I baked for 28 minutes and I felt I should have removed it sooner. Turn the sides 2-3 times while baking.
    Collage of litti preparation
    • I wanted to see how stove top cooked litti tastes. I kept aside one litti to cook on the stove. For cooking on stovetop, heat a pan. I used a cast iron. Place the litti on a hot pan and cook it on both sides. Cook it on sides to as shown in the picture. I cooked it on medium low - low heat. It took about 4-6 minutes. Then using tongs grill it on the direct fire.
    Collage of cooking litti

    Serving:

    • Break litti into two and pour melted butter or ghee on it. Or dip broken litti in ghee or butter. Or just pour butter on the litti. I liked pouring litti on broken litti. I dipped one broken litti in ghee for the photos and that was so good.
    • Serve litti with coriander chutney and / or chokha.

    Note:

    • 1 tbsp. of yogurt can be added to flour when kneading the dough.
    • Litti taste good when fresh. I baked litti 1 hour before I served them as I need to take pictures too. And I made one litti on stovetop just before serving. The one made on stovetop was soft inside and crunchy outside.

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    1. Preety mohata says

      June 14, 2015 at 10:58 am

      thanx for sharing this traditional recipe.. monsoon have just set in and i am planing to make these tomorrow.. your recipe will be of gr8 help..

      Reply
    2. Suma Gandlur says

      May 07, 2014 at 10:06 pm

      Lovely images there and they look yummy. I have to try them yet.

      Reply
    3. PJ says

      May 01, 2014 at 9:22 am

      Looks so good.Am seeing many versions of this and I want to make them seen. Nice pics:)

      Reply
    4. Ammaji Kitchen{Sree} (@sreevallie) says

      April 18, 2014 at 10:15 pm

      Delicious littli's.. They look yum & healthy with the baking & stove top version.

      Reply
    5. Nupur says

      April 14, 2014 at 5:15 pm

      Lovely pictures 🙂 Love your board and simple prsentation !

      Reply
    6. Priya Srinivasan says

      April 13, 2014 at 4:06 am

      Lovely,detailed description usha!! Loved it totally. i personally prefer dipping in gheewala part!!! Seeing so many sattu ke parantha and litti chokha, this definitely goes into must make list!!!!!

      Reply
    7. Mireille says

      April 09, 2014 at 11:47 am

      love the step by step pics for the chokha

      Reply
    8. Sandhya Ramakrishnan says

      April 08, 2014 at 2:28 pm

      Looks delicious Usha! I have tried the baked version, but this stove top method is very good. I am going to try it this way sometime.

      Reply
    9. Rajani says

      April 06, 2014 at 1:57 pm

      Never knew of 'stovetop littis'! That's great. And honestly, I can't spot much of a difference in the board. Its too blurred out to really notice :D.

      Reply
    10. themadscientistskitchen says

      April 06, 2014 at 8:35 am

      Ghee me doboke is the shot I loved. Did you eat that particular one? Love the litti choka.

      Reply
      • MySpicyKitchen says

        April 06, 2014 at 9:00 am

        Yes, Archana. That is the one ate and the very next a big pimple showed up on my face.. 🙂 🙁

        Reply
    11. Kalyani says

      April 05, 2014 at 1:46 pm

      All I can say when I look at ur first picture out on the top is yummmmmmm ! and I stop there... totally delish !

      Reply
    12. Srivalli says

      April 05, 2014 at 12:22 pm

      Wow the pictures are stunning Usha..so well done!..and love your step by step as well..:)

      Reply
    13. Gayathri Kumar says

      April 05, 2014 at 8:12 am

      Amazing photos. I love this combination a lot. The litti you have dipped in ghee looks so inviting...

      Reply
    14. sapana says

      April 05, 2014 at 8:05 am

      Beautifully made Litti and Chokha ! Lovely....

      Reply
    15. Vaishali Sabnani says

      April 05, 2014 at 6:28 am

      oh i am loving this litti chokha..beautifully, cooked, beautifully clicked...just gazing at the clicks and wishing I was there on my holiday and we could have relished this instead of that dosa!!

      Reply
    16. Pradnya says

      April 05, 2014 at 5:11 am

      lovely pictures, putting them on direct flame is nice idea..

      Reply
    17. saras says

      April 05, 2014 at 2:11 am

      Great pictorial dear!! Love all the way you cooked and they turned out perfect..

      Reply
    18. Mitha Arun Hegde says

      April 04, 2014 at 7:19 pm

      Perfect litti chokhas and beautiful clicks... Loved the second pic the most.. 🙂

      Reply
    19. Nalini says

      April 04, 2014 at 6:09 pm

      Perfectly made litti choka and wonderful write up..loved the way you cooked the littis..awesome clicks..

      Reply
    20. manjula bharath says

      April 04, 2014 at 5:09 pm

      Oh My ghosh !! well done on this post dear , just fabulous recipes and lovely write up 🙂 Litti chokha is my fav and you have made to perfection and fantastic clicks 🙂

      Reply
    21. harini says

      April 04, 2014 at 2:23 pm

      Very nice Usha..Reminds me of Baati from Rajasthan except for the filling, right?

      Reply
    22. Pavani says

      April 04, 2014 at 2:17 pm

      Same pinch Usha. I made litti-chokha too 🙂
      Like your way of cooking litti, will try that next time I make this dish.
      Clicks are super.

      Reply
    23. Varada says

      April 04, 2014 at 10:24 am

      Lithi look delicious. Lithi with tomato chokha are a favorite in our house.

      Reply
    24. Sruthi says

      April 04, 2014 at 9:46 am

      Usha, take a bow for your dedication!

      Reply
    25. Priya says

      April 04, 2014 at 8:45 am

      Litti chokha, i love it dipped in ghee, recently tried them at home and i have completely fallen in love with it..You nailed them prefectly usha.

      Reply
    26. Jayanthi says

      April 04, 2014 at 5:13 am

      Littis look perfect. appreciate the detailed notes.. now i want to make them too

      Reply
    27. Sowmya says

      April 04, 2014 at 2:56 am

      so yummy and love this litti chokha!!!

      Reply

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