Litti Chokha, the way it is made at home

Ingredients

• Whole wheat flour500 g
• Sattu (roasted gram flour)300 g
• Ghee80 g + more to finish
• Ajwain (carom seeds)2 tsp
• Kalonji (nigella)1 tsp
• Garlic, chopped fine8 cloves
• Green chilli, chopped4
• Mustard oil4 tbsp
• Lemon juice2 tbsp
• Pickle masala2 tbsp
• Brinjal, large2
• Tomato4
• Potato, boiled3

Method

1. 1

   Rub 60 g of ghee into the flour until it holds shape when you squeeze it, then add water slowly and knead a stiff dough. Rest it, covered, for 30 minutes.

2. 2

   For the filling: mix sattu with mustard oil, garlic, green chilli, ajwain, kalonji, lemon and pickle masala. Add water one spoon at a time — you want it just damp enough to hold, never wet. Wet filling is the single most common way litti goes wrong; it steams from the inside and the crust never sets.

3. 3

   Divide the dough into twelve. Flatten each, spoon in the filling, close it fully and roll it smooth without cracks.

4. 4

   Roast over coal, turning every few minutes, until dark patches appear on all sides and the litti sounds hollow — about 20 minutes. In an oven at 200°C it will take 25 and it will not taste the same; you are baking bread, not roasting litti.

5. 5

   For chokha: char the brinjal and tomatoes directly on the flame until the skin blisters and lifts. Peel, then mash with boiled potato, mustard oil, garlic, green chilli, salt and coriander. Do not blend it — chokha is meant to be uneven.

6. 6

   Dip each hot litti in ghee and serve with chokha alongside.