Start the day before. The fermenting alone is 8 hr, against 45 min of actual work.
Allergens in Chakuli Pitha: none of the ten listed below.
Ingredients
Quantities for 4.
- 400g, raw short-grain Rice
- 100g Urad Dal
- 1/2 tsp Fenugreek Seedshelps the batter ferment and browns the edges
- 1 tsp Sugarfeeds the fermentoptional
- 4 tbsp, for the pan Neutral Oil
- about 400ml, for grinding Water
- 1.5 tsp Salt
Cookware
stovetop, tawa, blender
Checked against the ingredient list for ten allergens: milk, egg, fish, crustaceans, tree nuts, peanuts, sesame, mustard, soy and gluten. Brands vary, so read the label on anything new to you.
Before you start
- Soak the rice in one bowl and the urad dal with the fenugreek seeds in another, both in plenty of water, for 6 hours.
- Grind the dal first with 150ml water until it is white, fluffy and holds a peak; then grind the rice with 200ml water to a fine batter with the faintest grit.
- Combine the two, beat in the sugar with your hand for a minute, cover loosely and ferment 8 to 10 hours in a warm spot until risen and bubbly.
- Salt the batter only after fermenting. Salt slows the rise.
Method
- Stir the salt into the fermented batter and let it down with water until it is the consistency of thick cream, thicker than dosa batter.Stir gently. Beating hard knocks out the air you spent all night building.
- Heat a flat tawa over medium until a drop of water skitters and vanishes in about 2 seconds.
- Rub the surface with half an onion or a scrunched paper towel dipped in oil and wipe off the excess.
- Pour a ladleful into the centre and spread it with the back of the ladle in one slow spiral to about 15cm. Chakuli is meant to be thick and soft, not lace-thin.One pass only. Going back over a setting batter tears holes in it.
- Drizzle 1/2 tsp oil around the rim and cook 2 minutes, until the top loses its shine and small holes open across the surface.
- Flip and cook the second side 1 minute, until it is set and speckled pale gold.Chakuli should stay soft and blond. If it is crisp and brown you have the tawa too hot.
- Slide it off and repeat, wiping and re-oiling the tawa between each one and dropping the heat a notch if they start browning too fast.
- Stack them under a cloth as you go so they steam each other soft, and serve hot with ghuguni or a mustardy vegetable curry.
Storage
The batter keeps 3 days refrigerated and gets tangier each day; bring it to room temperature before using. Cooked chakuli keep 1 day wrapped in a cloth and reheat in 30 seconds on a warm tawa.
Nutrition Good estimate
One serving of Chakuli Pitha (242 g) is about 571 calories, or 236 calories per 100 g.
Medium protein: 12 g a serving, 8% of the calories
| Per serving242 g | Per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 571 kcal | 236 kcal |
| Protein | 12.1 g | 5 g |
| Carbohydrate | 96.2 g | 40 g |
| of which sugars | 1.6 g | 1 g |
| Fibre | 4.0 g | 2 g |
| Fat | 14.6 g | 6 g |
| of which saturated | 1.7 g | 1 g |
| of which unsaturated | 12.1 g | 5 g |
Nearest database match used for urad dal. Estimated from raw ingredients using USDA FoodData Central.
More like this: Healthy Indian recipes · Vegan Indian recipes · Vegetarian Indian recipes · Gluten-free Indian recipes · Dairy-free Indian recipes · No onion no garlic recipes · Odia recipes
Times, yields, allergens and nutrition are guidance. Use your own judgement on doneness and on storing. More in About.