Chakli | Chakuli | Simple Indian Savoury Snack
I’m sure you will not disagree with me if I say that food isn’t just about nourishment and taste but it is way more than that! I’m sure some of your best memories and experiences have been around a plate of food. Even the simplest of food items do have some great memories behind them that we all cherish and hold close to our heart. Chakli are one of the simplest Indian savoury snack that we enjoy all year around and even more so on the Kuswar platter during Christmas in Mangalorean homes. I know there is still time for Christmas but I’m posting this today as Chakli for me, carry fond memories of a very dear person.
How to make Chakli
As you most probably already know Chakli are mostly spiral shaped, although there are straight ones made at times too as they require less skill and time to shape them. Chakli making involves three basic processes viz. preparing the dough, shaping the dough into Chakli and finally frying them.
The dough is a blend of rice flour and ground urad dal, seasoned with salt, cumin and sesame seeds and kneaded with eggs, butter and thick coconut milk (the 1st extract). To begin with wash the rice grains and urad dal separately and let them dry completely. Follow this by broiling them one after the other until they take on some colour. Let them cool a bit and grind them to a fine powder.
Take them all in a mixing bowl and season with salt, cumin and sesame seeds and give a good mix. Make a well in the middle and add the wet ingredients viz. the egg, melted butter and a portion of the coconut milk. Using a hand-held mixer or with your bare hands, start mixing the ingredients, adding the rest of the coconut milk little by little and knead into a dough. The dough should be slightly on the dry side but not overly dry. If the dough is too dry add some melted butter and knead. If it is too wet, add some rice flour to get the consistency right.
Once the dough is ready, we come to the main and tricky part viz. shaping the chakli. To do this we will need a Chakli Press with a “Star” attachment. The star shape is what gives the chakli its signature spiky exterior. Fill the chakli press with the dough and press down on the handles to extrude the dough over some parchment paper. While extruding, move the Chakli press in the shape of a spiral to give the Chakli their signature look. It is a bit tricky initially but super easy once you get a hang of it.
While you are shaping them, parallelly heat sufficient oil in a medium sized pot. The oil should be at medium high in order to achieve crispy Chaklis. Carefully drop the shaped chakli into the hot oil and get back to shaping the rest of the dough. Fry them for a couple of minutes till they take on a deep golden brown shade. Take them out using a slotted spoon and rest on a kitchen towel to absorb the excess oil. Once cooled transfer them to an air-tight container. Done!
What keeps me motivated is not the food itself but all the bonds and memories the food represents.
Michael Chiarello
A Spiral of Fond Memories
Christmas time is a joyous time, especially the days of Advent when we will be busy with prepartions leading to the big day – not just spiritual preparation but also the culinary preparations viz. the Kuswar. Just like almost every other Mangalorean Catholic home, even our home would be busy preparing Kuswar during this above mentioned time of year. We would all sit together and help Mom with the preparations. Although she could sometimes manage everything on her own, she couldn’t manage to handle the Chakli press.
Well, as I grew older I eventually took up that responsibility but, in the late 80s and the early 90s, when I was too young to handle the chakli press, Mom would take the help of her favourite nephew, Donald Rego. He is my oldest maternal cousin, one of the kindest and sweetest person I’ve ever known and is more like a son to my Mom. Me and my siblings addressed him as Donny Dattu! Dattu means Big brother in Konkani.
So, in the early years of our lives, for me and my siblings, during Kuswar preparation, Chakli day was effectively Donny Dattu day for us. He would stop by at our place on his way home from work and help Mom to shape the Chaklis. We would eagerly wait for him to come over and spend that evening with us. I would sit with him help him fill up the Chakli press and watch him when he skillfully turned the press around to form the perfect spirals and I eventually picked up that skill from him. He would then have dinner with us before bidding goodbye.
That evening, of every year during the kuswar preparation was special and fun for me and my siblings. And today, as we bid our final goodbye to our favourite Donny Dattu and laid him to rest, I can’t help but wish I could relive atleast once, all the fond memories I’ve had with him over the years. The least I could do was prepare a batch of Chaklis. Farewell Donny Dattu! Thank you for the sweet memories. Will always cherish them. You will be missed dearly!
Chakli
Equipment
- Chakli Press / Piping Bag with Star attachment
- Hand-held mixer
- medium size Pot
- Slotted spoon
Ingredients
- 500 gms Raw Rice, washed & dried
- 50 gms Boiled Rice washed & dried
- 125 gms Urad dal (Black gram), washed & dried
- Salt, as per taste
- 1 tsp Cumin seeds
- 1 tsp Sesame seeds
- 1 pc Egg
- 2 tbsp Butter, melted
- 400 ml Coconut Milk – Thick
- Vegetable Oil (for deep frying)
Instructions
Making the Chakli Dough:
- Broil the raw rice, boiled rice and urad dal one by one until they take a bit of colour and set aside
- Once cooled slightly, grind them one by one to a fine powder
- Take the ground rice and urad dal in a mixing bowl and add the salt, cumin and sesame seeds and give a good mix
- Make a well in the middle and add the egg, melted butter and half the coconut milk
- Using a hand-held mixer with a dough attachment, knead until the ingredients come together
- Keep adding the remaining coconut milk little by little and knead until all the ingredients are combined well
- Once combined, knead with your hands until a dough is formed
- The dough should be slightly on the dry side but not overly dry. (see notes)
Shaping the Chakli:
- Take a Chakli press(or piping bag)with "Star" attachment, fill it with the dough
- Place a parchment paper and hold the chakli press on top of it and press down on the handles to extrude the batter through the star attachment
- While doing so, move the chakli mould in the shape of a spiral to form the chakli on the parchment paper (see notes)
Frying the Chakli:
- Heat sufficient oil to medium-high heat in a medium sized pot (see notes)
- Drop the chaklis one by one carefully into the hot oil and fry them for about a couple of minutes till they take a golden brown shade
- Using a slotted spoon take them out onto a kitchen towel to absorb excess oil
- Once cooled, transfer to an air-tight bos
Notes
- If the dough is too dry add some melted butter and knead. If it is too wet, add some rice flour to get the consistency right.
- The size of the chakli is left to your judgement and preference. You can make it as big or as small as you like. Ideally around 3 to 4 spirals.
- The chaklis need tp be crisp and to achieve this the temperature of the oil needs to be on the higher side
- The yield can vary based on the shape and size of the chaklis
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Also, do try out my other Christmas preparations – the Panettone, or my Christmas Cake or maybe even the Stollen.