My earliest memories of Litti were when one of my uncles used to cook them in our courtyard. The whole “event” was done on a massive scale. He always made around a hundred/hundred-fifty litties for our large family. A few folks were assigned to be his helpers in doing things. It was strictly a man’s business then. Ladies were only expected to make chokha and chutney to go with them.
My Litti Making Journey
One snowy, wintery night, 12-13 years ago in New Jersey, My husband and I, along with a few of our friends, were trying to make Litti. Unfortunately, we had no experience making this signature dish of Bihar, though we all were from Bihar. Finally, with all our effort, it was rock-solid when it came out of the oven. So, as in all food-fail situations, pizza saved the day. Well, while making these litties, I still remember that we wasted almost half of the pure ghee from India one of our friends received from her mother. Well, she was nice enough not to kill us that night!!!!!! So for a few years, I didn’t try to make litties until one of my husband’s colleagues invited us for dinner. He made Litti Chokha which was good. He gave me hope again, and armed with his directions and my mom’s advice, I tried it again. Voila!!!!! It was a success this time, and after that, I was unstoppable. We had Litti parties for friends in Minneapolis winters entirely a few times, and those cold days were brighter and cheerful because of those get-togethers, I must say. Those were different times, however. I love to make litties and I finally perfected the art of cooking them in the oven. It tastes incredible, but I still miss the little traditionally cooked over the low flame of cow dung cakes. You need to be an expert in it, and litties cooked this way are charred and give a beautiful smoky flavor.
What is Litti?
Litti-chokha is a protein-packed powerhouse. Litti is stuffed with a spicy mixture of roasted gram flour/sattu. It tastes good with charred tomatoes, eggplant bharta, and aloo chokha which is nothing but spiced Indian-style mashed potatoes and a charred eggplant dip. Another interesting fact is that leftover litti tastes even better the next day, so I always make the quantity double to have leftovers. So for the first blog post of this new year, I thought of making my new start with a recipe from my roots and for which I am always proud to be associated. This winter, make this excellent dish of Bihar, dunk it into ghee, and experience sheer bliss with your family and friends!!!!!!!
You may want to check these baked recipes,
Missi Roti Tart with Aaloo Gobhi Matar filling Baked Amritsari Paneer Kulcha
