Litti belongs to Magadh, the old kingdom around Gaya and Patna, and it was built to travel. Wheat dough is packed with sattu — black chickpeas roasted whole and milled with their skins on — sharpened with pickle masala, carom, nigella and raw mustard oil, sealed into a ball, and roasted in the embers of a cow-dung or wood fire until the crust blackens and splits. Nothing in it spoils quickly, which is why it fed soldiers, pilgrims and field labour for centuries before it fed anyone in a restaurant. The chokha is the other half and is never optional: aubergine, potato and tomato charred in the same fire, skinned, and mashed with raw garlic, green chilli and more mustard oil. The litti is broken open and drowned in ghee as it comes off the ash. Both halves are cooked in fire. Neither is cooked in a pan.
Zone: Gangetic Heartland
SOURCE: Adapted from Pallavi Nigam Sahay, The Bhojpuri Kitchen — sattu-stuffed wheat dough roasted in embers, served with three separate chokhas and ghee (English-language cookbook)
LOCAL NAME: लिट्टी चोखा
INGREDIENTS
- 300 g wholemeal wheat flour (atta)
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp ghee (plus 6 tbsp for dipping)
- water (to knead)
- 200 g sattu (roasted black chickpea flour)
- 1 small onion (very finely chopped)
- 4 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
- 2 cm ginger (finely chopped)
- 2 green chillies (finely chopped)
- 2 tbsp mango pickle masala (chopped)
- 1 tsp carom seeds (ajwain)
- 1 tsp nigella seeds (kalonji)
- 2 tbsp mustard oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 medium aubergines
- 3 medium potatoes
- 3 medium tomatoes
- 6 garlic cloves (raw, crushed)
- 2 green chillies (finely chopped)
- 1 small red onion (finely chopped)
- 3 tbsp mustard oil
- 1 tsp salt
- a handful of coriander leaves (chopped)
METHOD
- Rub 2 tbsp ghee and the salt into the flour, then knead with water to a firm dough, slightly stiffer than chapati dough. Rest it covered for 30 minutes.
- Mix the sattu with the onion, garlic, ginger, green chillies, pickle masala, carom, nigella, mustard oil, lemon juice and salt. Squeeze a little in your fist — it should hold its shape and then crumble. Add a teaspoon of water at a time if it will not hold.
- Divide the dough into eight. Flatten each into a disc, cup it in your palm, spoon in a heaped tablespoon of the sattu, and draw the edges up to seal. Roll gently between your palms into a smooth ball with no cracks.
- Heat the oven to 220C. Roast the littis on the top shelf for 25 minutes, turning once, until firm and patched with brown.
- Finish under a hot grill for 2 minutes until the crust blisters and blackens in places. This is the point of the dish; pale littis are underdone.
- While they roast, char the aubergines, potatoes and tomatoes. Sit the aubergines and tomatoes directly on a gas ring over a medium flame, turning until the skins are black and the flesh collapses. Boil or bake the potatoes until soft.
- Peel everything. Discard the blackened skins and the tomato skins, and mash the three together roughly with a fork — chokha is not a puree.
- Fold in the raw garlic, green chillies, red onion, mustard oil, salt and coriander. Taste; it should be pungent and sharp with the raw oil forward.
- Break each litti open with your thumbs and dip it straight into a bowl of melted ghee so it soaks. Serve hot with the chokha alongside.
NOTES
UK adaptation: Sattu from any South Asian grocer or online (Natco and TRS both stock it; do not substitute besan, which is unroasted and tastes raw). Mango pickle masala can be spooned from a jar of Patak’s or any lime or mango achar. Mustard oil from a South Asian grocer. Without a fire, roast the littis on the top shelf of an oven at 220C for 25 minutes and finish them for two minutes under a hot grill to blister the crust; char the aubergine directly on a gas hob ring. Everything else widely available.
US adaptation: Sattu from Patel Brothers, an Indian grocery, or online. Mustard oil from Patel Brothers or Indian grocery stores. Roast at 425F for 25 minutes and finish under the broiler; char the eggplant directly on a gas burner or under the broiler until the skin collapses. Everything else widely available.
Cook’s note: The litti must be roasted, never fried — dry heat is what splits the crust and keeps the sattu loose inside, and a pan of oil turns it into a heavy stuffed bread. Get the crust properly blackened in patches before you take it off the heat.
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