Being from Bihar, I and my husband share great carving for Litti-Chokha. But making this Bihari cuisine in the most traditional manner hasn't been a feasible option. So we have come up with our own way of making delicious Litti-Chokha in microwave + stove. You can follow our recipe or improvise on it depending on your taste.
Here you go!
Start with Chokha on stove:
You need big brinjals(also known as eggplants or baigan or bhanta) for this. I have never tried with small ones but you are free to experiment with it. Put cuts till the end of it but don't let the four pieces separate. Now stand it on the stove on medium flame. Occasionally turn to cook thoroughly. One brinjal is enough for two to three people with average appetite.
Neat Litti Dough:
Take wheat flour or multi-grain flour. Add ghee to it and keep mixing between your palms till you are able to see a changed colour. Now take the flour in your fist and open your fist. If the flour binds in the shape of your fist, that means it is good to go. Now neat it with water to make dough. Quantity of flour depends on how many pieces of Litti you want to make. One piece of Litti takes as much flour as one chapati/roti. Quantity of ghee can be judged by its fist test for best results.
Use Culinary Knife skills:
Finely chop onions, garlic and green chillis for Litti as well as Chokha. You can also chop tomato for chokha but we skip it mostly. Keep chopped coriander leaves for garnishing in the end.
Prepare Litti filling:
Sattu is the life line here. I take about 250 gm of sattu to make 12 to15 picies of Litti. Add salt, red chilli powder (you can add chopped green chillis instead), ajwain, mangraila (we skip it), mustard oil, half of chopped onions, half of chopped garlic, a bit of chat masala, lemon juice and any pickle (preferably mango) as per your taste. You must taste the filling to figure out if you want to add something more or not. Add a bit of water to get moister in the filling. Remember, we are not making dough of sattu so we need only little bit of water.
Make Litti balls:
Litti balls can be of any size but the real taste comes if the balls are a bit big. Take a portion of dough as big as the one you would take for a big roti. Roll it between your plams and then press your thumb to make valley . Fill sattu filling into it and then gently close the mouth of the ball. Make sure there are no holes into the ball.
Cook Litti in Microwave:
Put Litti balls on high stand and put it inside your microwave oven. As we know every microwave is different, your settings can be different. We cook on grill mode for 10 minutes and then on grill + microwave combination for another 10 minutes. Occasionally rotate Litti for cooking thoroughly at all sides. First timers need to keep an eye on Litti all the time.
Final cooking of Chokha:
Once your brinjal is cooked properly, take out the black skin and mash it properly. Now pour oil (preferably mustard oil) into cooking pan or kadhai. Now add remaining chopped garlic, onion and green chilli into the plan. Stir till onion changes colour and becomes pinkish. If you want to add chopped tomato, this is the time. Once tomato become a bit cooked, add mashed brinjal into it. Stir and cook for a few minutes.
And that's all. Litti-Chokha is ready to be enjoyed. Many people also make salted tomato chatni and potato bharta to go with it. It does add to the flavor, provided you are ready to put efforts. Otherwise, this simple Litti- Chokha is enough to enjoy the heavenly taste.
Here you go!
Start with Chokha on stove:
You need big brinjals(also known as eggplants or baigan or bhanta) for this. I have never tried with small ones but you are free to experiment with it. Put cuts till the end of it but don't let the four pieces separate. Now stand it on the stove on medium flame. Occasionally turn to cook thoroughly. One brinjal is enough for two to three people with average appetite.
Neat Litti Dough:
Take wheat flour or multi-grain flour. Add ghee to it and keep mixing between your palms till you are able to see a changed colour. Now take the flour in your fist and open your fist. If the flour binds in the shape of your fist, that means it is good to go. Now neat it with water to make dough. Quantity of flour depends on how many pieces of Litti you want to make. One piece of Litti takes as much flour as one chapati/roti. Quantity of ghee can be judged by its fist test for best results.
Use Culinary Knife skills:
Finely chop onions, garlic and green chillis for Litti as well as Chokha. You can also chop tomato for chokha but we skip it mostly. Keep chopped coriander leaves for garnishing in the end.
Prepare Litti filling:
Sattu is the life line here. I take about 250 gm of sattu to make 12 to15 picies of Litti. Add salt, red chilli powder (you can add chopped green chillis instead), ajwain, mangraila (we skip it), mustard oil, half of chopped onions, half of chopped garlic, a bit of chat masala, lemon juice and any pickle (preferably mango) as per your taste. You must taste the filling to figure out if you want to add something more or not. Add a bit of water to get moister in the filling. Remember, we are not making dough of sattu so we need only little bit of water.
Make Litti balls:
Litti balls can be of any size but the real taste comes if the balls are a bit big. Take a portion of dough as big as the one you would take for a big roti. Roll it between your plams and then press your thumb to make valley . Fill sattu filling into it and then gently close the mouth of the ball. Make sure there are no holes into the ball.
Cook Litti in Microwave:
Put Litti balls on high stand and put it inside your microwave oven. As we know every microwave is different, your settings can be different. We cook on grill mode for 10 minutes and then on grill + microwave combination for another 10 minutes. Occasionally rotate Litti for cooking thoroughly at all sides. First timers need to keep an eye on Litti all the time.
Final cooking of Chokha:
Once your brinjal is cooked properly, take out the black skin and mash it properly. Now pour oil (preferably mustard oil) into cooking pan or kadhai. Now add remaining chopped garlic, onion and green chilli into the plan. Stir till onion changes colour and becomes pinkish. If you want to add chopped tomato, this is the time. Once tomato become a bit cooked, add mashed brinjal into it. Stir and cook for a few minutes.
And that's all. Litti-Chokha is ready to be enjoyed. Many people also make salted tomato chatni and potato bharta to go with it. It does add to the flavor, provided you are ready to put efforts. Otherwise, this simple Litti- Chokha is enough to enjoy the heavenly taste.
