What Rosogulla is to Kolkata, Dal Baati Churma is to Rajasthan – Litti Chhokha is to Bihar. You can’t visit the spot and not have Litti. Synonymous to Bihar, this rural globe of heated heavenliness is adored as much for its straightforwardness with respect to its life-changing taste. But then with regards to following the story behind this culinary perfect work of art – the dish is a supper in itself — there is close to nothing accessible, aside from Ibn Batuta’s notice of sun heated wheat pieces as ahead of schedule as the Magadha Empire, amid which time grains like wheat, jowar, bajra and different millets were normal and a piece of the feast.
Magadh kingdom brought forth one more culinary miracle called ‘litti’. Known to be a Bihari forte today, litti was a staple in the court of Magadh and outside too. It is made of wheat, ghee and water and prepared in the sun – had one pro up the provincial cousin – it had a spicey filling of sattu. This could have been the reason that litti didn’t go as right on time as baati, yet despite everything it rose to noticeable quality when it assumed a significant job in the War Of Independence of 1857. Its effortlessness was said to be the genuine reason that many including any semblance of Tantia Tope and Rani Lakshmi Bai made it their movement supper. Litti required extremely less water and could be prepared with no utensils.Of course, litti underwent changes as new rulers came in. With the Mughal Empire, litti was served with shorbas and payas; with Britishers, curry came in and so forth. But it was the classic combination of litti-chokha, which was a mash of roasted eggplant, onions and tomatoes, and chutney that survived.
Litti, it was war food conveyed by the warriors since old time alongside dry Sattu Powder. It rose as a ‘courageous sepoy’, when the agitators made due on it amid the Mutiny of 1857. Tantia Tope, Rani Lakshmi Bai, and the preferences picked it as their ‘food for survival’ as it very well may be prepared with no utensils or much water in the wildernesses and gorges, which implied lesser possibility of being gotten, and Litti could remain for whatever length of time that two– three days.
There are numerous road slows down serving this dish in Bihar and Jharkhand. The one close to the High Court in Doranda is renowned and very prevalent in Ranchi. Well known for its rural taste, Litti Chokha is made of entire wheat flour, loaded down with sattu (powder made out of grain or Bengal gram), herbs and flavors and prepared over coal or dairy animals excrement cakes and afterward at long last sprinkled with desi ghee. Dry renditions of Litti are additionally accessible. Chokha is a blend of barbecued eggplant with chilies, onion tomato, cumin powder, coriander and turmeric powder.
The street stalls additionally serve litti fried or absorbed in ghee — clarified butter, yet I lean toward the dry prepared ones. Litti is presented with chokha — pounded potato or roast barbecued eggplant finished with chilies, onion, tomato, cumin powder, coriander, and turmeric powder. Sattu is an extremely well-known flour in the Indian conditions of UP and Bihar. There is no English name for Sattu, however for the accommodation purpose, you may call it Roasted chickpeas or Gram powder. Generally, Chickpeas or Chana dal (Bengal gram) is broiled in hot sand and afterward granulate to powder. The purpose behind utilizing the sand is that the individual bits get broiled uniformly.
The best part about Litti Chokha is that it is solid such that both litti and chokha are broiled and barbecued. There is no frying associated with it, obviously, short the desi ghee. Litti alongside chokha is a finished feast.
Today it isn’t just a most loved dish for individuals in Bihar and Jharkhand, yet it has picked up a global notoriety. This delightful dish has discovered various fans in remote nations also.
“The Bihari story is an entrancing one, going back to the Mahabharat… . The topography of sustenance zones is very intricate: Maithili is altogether different from the Purvanchali, Anga, Magadh, Bhojpuri cooking styles. At that point it gets additionally isolated in Jharkhand, with its inborn nourishment and territorial varieties. The nourishment arrangements fluctuate as indicated by social class, rank, religion and area. A portion of the normal nourishment is chura matar, litti (without onion and garlic for Brahmins), makhana, sattu, ghughni and Bihari kabab,” says Dr. Pushpesh Pant.
It might not have a major overall after like chicken tikka masala yet it lives in the hearts of those that swear by its natural straightforwardness. It is a piece of the ethos and culture of the nearby individuals. This modest dish was eaten by ranchers and workers of Bihar, a territory of India once celebrated for creating an unbelievable number of administrators. It is shot into notoriety because of our affection for anything identified with movies and film stars. Priyanka Chopra’s father had referenced some place that since he is the son in-law of a Bihari family, his girl grew up eating it. Aamir Khan was spied eating it amid his visit to Patna. Sonakshi Sinha, the little girl of a good ‘ol fashioned Bihari Babu, Shatrughan Sinha additionally savors it. Wherever there is Bihari in this world, he recalls this straightforward, gritty yet genuinely solid repast with a gleam in the eye.