flipLitti chokha (stuffed wheat balls with roasted vegetable mash)
Litti chokha (stuffed wheat balls with roasted vegetable mash)
Why this dish? Imtiaz Ali was born in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, and he loves to eat what villagers eat during his location scouts in rural India. Litti chokha is the dish of his home region and neighboring Bihar: nourishing, portable, cooked on embers — exactly the kind of food shared sitting on the ground on a rural film set.
Wheat dough balls stuffed with spiced sattu (roasted chickpea flour), cooked until they crackle on the coals, dipped in ghee, and served with chokha: a smoky mash of roasted eggplant and potatoes. Robust, smoky, and filling.
I'm from Jharkhand, and this dish is both my childhood and all my journeys rolled into one. On a location scout, when we stop in a village, we dig a pit, light a fire, and roll the litti in the ashes until they crack. The sattu inside smells of garlic and mustard oil — it's rough, it's honest, it keeps you going for a whole day of shooting. You break the hot ball open, drown it in ghee, and mash the smoked eggplant on top: trust me, no fancy restaurant can offer you that.
- •Whole wheat flour (atta) — for the dough (wrapper)
- •Sattu (roasted chickpea flour) — a bowl (filling)
- •Garlic, ginger, green chili — to taste (filling aromatics)
- •Mustard oil — a drizzle (flavor)
- •Carom seeds (ajwain), nigella seeds — a pinch (spices)
- •Eggplant and potatoes — for the chokha (roasted mash)
- •Ghee — generously (final dip)
Litti chokha (stuffed wheat balls with roasted vegetable mash)
Wheat dough balls stuffed with spiced sattu (roasted chickpea flour), cooked until they crackle on the coals, dipped in ghee, and served with chokha: a smoky mash of roasted eggplant and potatoes. Robust, smoky, and filling.
Why this dish? Imtiaz Ali was born in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, and he loves to eat what villagers eat during his location scouts in rural India. Litti chokha is the dish of his home region and neighboring Bihar: nourishing, portable, cooked on embers — exactly the kind of food shared sitting on the ground on a rural film set.
I'm from Jharkhand, and this dish is both my childhood and all my journeys rolled into one. On a location scout, when we stop in a village, we dig a pit, light a fire, and roll the litti in the ashes until they crack. The sattu inside smells of garlic and mustard oil — it's rough, it's honest, it keeps you going for a whole day of shooting. You break the hot ball open, drown it in ghee, and mash the smoked eggplant on top: trust me, no fancy restaurant can offer you that.
Ingredients (period version)
- Whole wheat flour (atta) — for the dough (wrapper)
- Sattu (roasted chickpea flour) — a bowl (filling)
- Garlic, ginger, green chili — to taste (filling aromatics)
- Mustard oil — a drizzle (flavor)
- Carom seeds (ajwain), nigella seeds — a pinch (spices)
- Eggplant and potatoes — for the chokha (roasted mash)
- Ghee — generously (final dip)
Ingredients
- Whole wheat flour — 300 g (dough)
- Sattu — 200 g (filling)
- Garlic — 4 cloves, minced (filling)
- Ginger — 1 piece (2 cm) (filling)
- Green chili — 1, minced (filling)
- Mustard oil — 3 tbsp (flavor)
- Ajwain (carom seeds) — 1/2 tsp (spice)
- Eggplant — 2 large (chokha)
- Potatoes — 2 (chokha)
- Tomato — 1 (optional) (chokha)
- Ghee — as needed (serving)
Method
- Knead a firm dough with flour, a little salt, oil, and water; let rest for 20 minutes.
- Mix sattu with garlic, ginger, chili, ajwain, mustard oil, salt, and a little water to form a moist, fragrant filling.
- Shape the dough into balls, hollow them out, fill with the sattu mixture, and seal into smooth balls.
- Bake the litti at 200°C (or on embers) for 25-30 minutes, turning, until golden and cracked.
- For the chokha: roast eggplant and potatoes until the skin blackens, peel, mash with garlic, mustard oil, salt, and coriander.
- Dip the hot litti in melted ghee and serve with the chokha.
How it was made : An ancient dish from Bihar and Jharkhand, litti was the ideal ration for farmers, travelers, and soldiers: cooked directly in the embers (kanda), it kept well and was easy to carry. Sattu, a roasted legume flour, has been a concentrated energy source in eastern India for centuries.
The contemporary twist : A 'traveling cinema' version: mini litti as bite-sized morsels, chokha shaped into a quenelle, served on a banana leaf as on the roads.
Imtiaz Ali · Charactorium
