Litti Chokha
A rural Bihari dish genuinely rooted in working-class farm food: portable, cookable over an open flame without needing oil, and energy-dense, making it practical field food for laborers. Some claims push its origin back to the 6th century BCE Magadha era, but that's a real stretch worth treating as speculative rather than fact; what's well-supported instead is sattu's documented history as peasant and famine food in Bihar, including during 19th-century famines. Real litti is a whole wheat dough ball stuffed with spiced sattu, roasted gram flour, and traditionally cooked over cow-dung cakes or open coals rather than in an oven, a modern shortcut, then dipped in ghee. Chokha is a smoky mash of roasted eggplant, potato, and tomato dressed with raw mustard oil.
⚠ Contains: Gluten, Mustard. Always check your own ingredients — this isn't a guarantee for severe allergies.
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 cup sattu (roasted gram flour)
- 2 tbsp mustard oil, plus more for chokha
- 1 tsp ajwain (carom seeds)
- 1/2 tsp kalonji (nigella seeds)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 green chiles, minced
- 1 eggplant
- 2 potatoes
- Ghee, for dipping
Steps
- Make a firm dough from the whole wheat flour and water. Rest 20 minutes.
- Mix the sattu with mustard oil, ajwain, kalonji, garlic, onion, and chile to make the filling.
- Stuff balls of dough with the sattu filling, sealing well.
- Roast over open coals or bake at high heat, turning, until the outside is deeply browned and crackled.
- Roast the eggplant and potatoes directly over flame until charred and soft, then peel and mash with mustard oil, garlic, and chile for the chokha.
- Dip the hot litti in ghee and serve with the chokha.