LITTI CHOKHA...A BIHARI DELICACY...

I've been always fond of litti chokha....It feels as if just few days back when we were kids,whenever twas raining litti chokha was on-demand and  all of us got involved in the preparation....days have passed like a wink of an eye...Now being married in Patna,''THE PURE BIHARI BAHU'' litti chokha has become an integral recipe in almost all the festival.
On this holi bash I prepared it for some of our friends who are though south Indians a huge fan of  litti chokha.
Sharing with you a patna version of eating it with baigan and aloo ka chokha or bharta and chicken curry..
Even I tried this for the very first time...and its really awesome!!!!



INGREDIENTS
For Atta (flour) dough: 
1½ cup: Whole wheat atta (Littis are more crunchy if made with maida) 
¾ to 1 cup: Regular or fat-free yogurt (dahi) 
(Make dough from atta using yogurt and NOT water. The dough should be soft and fully kneaded. Keep aside covered.) 


For Filling: 
1 cup: Sattu (a special gram flour) 
4 cloves: Garlic, finely chopped 
1 inch: Ginger, finely chopped 
2 or more: Green chilies, finely chopped 
½ cup: Fresh dhaniya (cilantro) leaves, finely chopped 
½ tsp: Mangrella (nigella or onion seed) 
2 tbsp: Mustard 
1 tsp: Ajwain (thyme) 
1 no: Lemon juice 
1 or 2 tbsp: Mircha achar masala (fillings from the red chili pickle) Salt to taste

METHOD


Mix all the filling ingredients with sattu together nicely. Add ¼ to ½ cup water to make the stuffing moist and easy to fill.
Now make 8 balls from the atta (flour) dough. Dust each ball with dry atta and make a patty roughly 2.5" to 3" diameter in size with hand. You don't need a belan (rolling pin) for this.
Stuff 2 to 3 tsp sattu filling in the center of the patty and close it from all sides.
When all the littis are stuffed, pre-heat the oven to 375 F and put all the litties on a foil and bake till one side is brown or black spots come on the litti surface. Then turn over the litti and bake for few more minutes until that side is brown as well.
Take out and dip in pure ghee or butter and serve with achar or dhaniya (cilantro) chutney and/or baigan ka bharta.