Litti Chokha (Baked Litti)
Bihar's best-known meal: whole-wheat balls stuffed with spiced sattu, baked until crusty and served with chokha, a smoky mash of roasted brinjal, tomato and potato.
- Region
- Bihar
- Status
- Traditional; oven-baked rather than cooked over coals, and brushed with ghee rather than dipped
- Diet label
- Strictly vegetarian, egg-free
- Time
- Prep 30 min · Cook 40 min
- Serves
- 3 (3 littis plus chokha each)
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Good for
- Weekend lunch, gatherings
- Tags
- Good source · High fibre · Soy-free · Whey-free · No added sugar
- Allergens
- Gluten (wheat), milk (ghee)
Nutrition (estimated)
- Calories
- 555 kcal
- Protein
- 19 g
- Carbs
- 78 g
- Fat
- 17 g
- Fibre
- 21 g
Headline values are per serving, as written.
| kcal | Protein | Carbs | Fat | Sat fat | Fibre | Total sugars | Protein per 100 kcal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full plate: 3 littis and chokha | 555 | 19 g | 78 g | 17 g | 6 g | 21 g | 5 g | 3.5 g |
Good source. Dipping littis in ghee in the traditional way adds 90–180 kcal per serving. IFCT has no sattu entry; Bengal gram dal values are used. Values checked against IFCT 2017 on 14 Oct 2026.
Ingredients
- Dough: 200 g whole-wheat atta · 10 g ghee · ¼ tsp ajwain · 3 g salt · about 120 ml water
- Filling: 120 g chana sattu · 50 g onion, finely chopped · 1 tbsp grated garlic and ginger · 2 green chillies · 2 tbsp coriander · ½ tsp ajwain · ½ tsp kalonji · 10 g achar (pickle) masala · 1 tbsp lemon juice · 10 g mustard oil · 3 g salt · 2–3 tbsp water
- Chokha: 300 g brinjal (1 large) · 200 g tomato · 150 g potato, boiled · 10 g mustard oil · 30 g onion · 2 garlic cloves · 1 green chilli · coriander · salt
- To finish: 10 g ghee, melted
Method
- Knead the dough ingredients until smooth. Rest 15 minutes.
- Mix the filling ingredients; it should hold together when pressed.
- Divide dough into 9 balls. Flatten each into a 7 cm cup, fill with sattu mixture, seal and roll smooth.
- Bake at 200 °C for 30–35 minutes, turning halfway, until deep golden and hollow-sounding when tapped. (Or cook in a covered appe pan on low for 25 minutes, turning often.)
- For chokha, roast the brinjal and tomato directly over a gas flame, turning, until charred all over and soft (10–12 minutes). Cool, peel and mash with potato, mustard oil, onion, garlic, chilli, coriander and salt.
- Crack each litti slightly, brush with ghee and serve with chokha.
Protein optimisation
- Sattu supplies 9 g per serving, wheat 7.5 g, vegetables 3 g.
- Boost: serve with 100 g curd (+3.5 g protein, +60 kcal), or increase sattu to 150 g (+2 g protein per serving).
Variations, serving and storage
- Regional: Jharkhand style — serve with a ghugni of dried peas alongside the chokha.
- Substitution: roasted besan (see B10) if sattu is unavailable.
- Storage: littis keep 2 days refrigerated, re-crisped in the oven; chokha keeps 1 day.
- Food safety: chokha contains raw onion and garlic in oil; refrigerate promptly.
- Meal prep: shape littis ahead and refrigerate up to 12 hours before baking.
Nutrition values are estimates calculated from the Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (ICMR-NIN) and typical product labels. They have not been laboratory-analysed and will vary with your ingredients, brands and cooking. Recipes are for healthy adults and are general information only, not a substitute for advice from a doctor or qualified dietitian. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, cooking for children, have food allergies, or live with kidney disease, diabetes or any other medical condition, please take professional advice about your diet. From the collection Protein-Rich India by Dr. Shantanu Deshpande · drshantanudeshpande.com