Litti (cuisine)

Litti, along with chokha, is a complete meal originated from the Indian state of Bihar. It is also popular in Jharkhand and parts of Eastern Uttar Pradesh. It is a dough ball made up of whole wheat flour and stuffed with sattu (roasted chickpea and barley flour) mixed with herbs and spices and then roasted over coal or cow dung cakes or wood then it is tossed with much ghee.[1] Although very often confused with the closely related baati, it is a completely different dish in terms of taste, texture and preparation. It may be eaten with yogurt, baigan bharta, alu bharta, and papad.[2] The litti are traditionally baked over a cow-dung fire,[3] but in the modern day a new fried version has been developed.[4]

Litti
Litti being prepared
Place of originIndia
Region or stateOriginated in Bihar; Jharkhand, parts of Uttar Pradesh
Serving temperatureHot
Main ingredientsWhole wheat flour, Sattu, vegetables, seasoning, select Indian spices, ghee
VariationsBaati

Herbs and spices used to flavour the litti include onion, garlic, ginger, coriander leaves, lime juice, carom seeds, nigella seeds and salt.[5] Tasty pickles can also be used to add spice flavour. In western Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh litti is served with murgh korma (a creamy chicken curry) or chokha (a vegetable preparation of roasted and mashed eggplant, tomato, and potato).[6]

See also

Litti is a staple food of Bihar, Jharkhand and Eastern Uttar Pradesh. It is pocket friendly for the working classes and also healthy in terms of proteins and nutrients. It is made of whole-wheat flour and stuffed with sattu (gram flour powder). Cooking and serving of litti is very important to realise the actual taste of this food. The best littis should be cooked in low fire of cow dung cake so that the littis are baked properly and the inside fillings are cooked and mixed well. The taste of litti lies in its stuffed material, namely sattu. Dry sattu is mixed with chopped garlic and ginger and some Indian dry species to give a tangy flavour, and after the litti is baked it is broken into pieces, and hot ghee is poured all over it. It is best served with raw onions soaked in lemon and vinegar, chokha (spicy mashed potatoes) and chicken/meat gravy.

References
  1. "Food and Recipes". Bihar and Jharkhand. Retrieved 2012-09-05.
  2. "Bihari Litti". Mapsofindia.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-09. Retrieved 2012-09-05.
  3. Philip Thangam (1 January 1993). Flavours From India. Orient Blackswan. pp. 6–. ISBN 978-81-250-0817-0. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
  4. Minakshie Dasgupta; Bunny Gupta; Jaya Chaliha (1 January 1995). Calcutta Cook Book. Penguin Books India. pp. 347–. ISBN 978-0-14-046972-1. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
  5. Bihar (India); Pranab Chandra Roy Choudhury (1966). Bihar district gazetteers. Printed by the Superintendant, Secretariat Press, Bihar. p. 807. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
  6. Caroline Trefler (21 June 2011). Fodor's Essential India: With Delhi, Rajasthan, the Taj Mahal & Mumbai. Random House Digital, Inc. pp. 157–. ISBN 978-1-4000-0529-1. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
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