Spiral shaped crunchy snack made with rice flour, gram flour and spices. These are a popular snack made in Indian homes.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 7 minutes
  • Cook time: 23 minutes
  • Total time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 14 · 14 chakli
  • Category: Snack
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

  • 1 cup rice flour ((refer notes))
  • ¼ cup besan ((gram flour))
  • ¼ cup fried gram powder ((roasted gram powder) (substitute with besan))
  • ½ teaspoon salt (as needed)
  • 1 tablespoon sesame seeds ((do not use unhulled))
  • 1 tablespoon hot butter (or hot oil)
  • 1 tablespoon ajwain ((carom seeds) (optional))
  • ½ to ¾ tablespoon red chilli powder
  • 1 pinch hing ((asafoetida))
  • water (as needed)
  • 2 cups oil (for deep frying)

Method

Preparation

  1. The recipe needs ¼ cup fried gram powder. You can replace it with besan. If using fried gram, add them to a chutney jar and make a fine powder. Use only ¼ cup powder in this recipe.
  2. Add rice flour, besan, fried gram powder, salt, sesame seeds, ajwain, hing & chilli powder to a large mixing bowl. Mix up well.
  3. Heat 1 tbsp butter or oil until very hot (don't smoke). Pour it quickly to the mixture and mix with a spoon (not fingers) first. Later use your fingers to incorporate the oil evenly. This makes the chakli crunchy.
  4. Pour water little by little and make a dough. Start with 3 tablespoons and keep adding 1 tsp at a time until the dough forms. Do not knead it just mix to get a non sticky dough and shape it to a log.

How to make Chakli

  1. Grease the chakli maker and fill it with a portion of the dough.
  2. You can shape the dough either on a moist cloth, dry cloth or parchment paper. Slowly press the chakri maker to release the dough & shape to spirals. Use your finger to end the spiral. Join the end of the chakli to the spiral. (check video or pics)
  3. Heat oil on a medium high flame. Continue to make the rest while the oil heats up.
  4. Test if the oil is hot by dropping a small portion of the dough, it should sizzle and rise to the surface without turning brown. If it sinks, the oil is not hot enough.
  5. Remove the chakli to your fingers and gently slide to the hot oil. You can fry about 3 to 4 in each batch depending on the size of your pan.
  6. Do not disturb them (touch) for 1 to 2 minutes, until they become firm. Later turn them to the other side. Fry on a medium flame on both the sides until crunchy & golden.
  7. Remove chakli to a steel colander or a cooling rack and cool them completely. Transfer chakli to a air tight steel or glass jar.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.