Litti Chokha - a traditional dish from the state of Bihar in India. Whole wheat dough balls filled with a spicy mix are served with roasted eggplant-potato-tomato mash.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 15 minutes
  • Cook time: 45 minutes
  • Total time: 60 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

Litti dough

  • 2 cups atta (also known as durum whole wheat flour)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons ghee (melted)
  • 2 tablespoons yogurt (plain yogurt)
  • water (to knead the dough)

Litti filling

  • 1 cup sattu (also known as roasted bengal gram flour)
  • 1 medium red onion (finely chopped)
  • 2 teaspoons mustard oil (don't use any other oil for authentic taste)
  • 4-5 garlic cloves (grated)
  • 1 green chili (finely chopped)
  • 1 inch ginger (grated)
  • 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
  • 2 tablespoons pickle masala (I used my grandmom's homemade red chili pickle masala)
  • 1/2 teaspoon ajwain (also known as carom seeds)
  • 1/2 teaspoon kalonji (also known as nigella seeds)
  • 1/2 teaspoon amchur (also known as dry mango powder)
  • salt (to taste)
  • 2 tablespoons water (to wet the filling a little)

Chokha

  • 1 medium eggplant
  • 2 medium potatoes (boiled and mashed)
  • 4 medium tomatoes
  • 4 garlic cloves (chopped)
  • 1 inch ginger (chopped)
  • 2 green chili (chopped)
  • 1 tablespoon mustard oil (don't use any other oil for authentic taste)
  • 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
  • salt (to taste)

To serve/dip

  • 1/2 cup ghee (also known as clarified butter)

Method

Make Litti

  1. In a bowl take atta and add salt to it and then add 2 tablespoons of ghee and yogurt and mix.
  2. Add water little by little to knead to a soft and smooth dough. Cover dough with a damp cloth and let it rest while you make the filling.
  3. For the filling, add sattu to a bowl. To this add finely chopped onion, 2 teaspoons mustard oik, grated ginger & garlic, green chili, chopped cilantro, kalonji, ajwain, amchur and salt.
  4. Add pickle masala and mix. Also add few tablespoons of water to make it little damp. Filling should be powdery but shouldn't feel too dry.
  5. Divide dough into 8 equal parts. Roll each dough into a circle (without applying any extra dry flour).
  6. Put 1-2 tablespoons of sattu filling in the center.
  7. Start sealing the edges from one end and pinch the center to seal the dough ball completely.
  8. Roll it between your palms to make it smooth. Repeat with the remaining dough.
  9. Place the littis on a baking sheet and bake at 400 F degrees for 40-45 minutes or till evenly browned. Flip the littis 2-3 times in between to make sure it's evenly cooked. Once cooked, take them out of the oven and dip in melted ghee immediately. You can also roast them for few seconds on direct heat to get little charring and then dip them in ghee.

Make Chokha

  1. Roast eggplant and tomato on direct fire on low heat for 15 to 20 minutes till outer skin gets charred and they are juicy from inside. Also roast the garlic cloves.
  2. Remove charred skin of eggplant and tomatoes, add them to a bowl and mash them.
  3. Add boiled mashed potato, chopped roasted garlic, chopped ginger, chopped green chili and salt. Also add chopped cilantro and mustard oil.
  4. Mix everything together till well combined. Chokha is done.

Serve Litti Chokha

  1. To eat the litti, break it a little and pour more ghee so that the filling gets soaked with ghee. Enjoy with chokha.

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.