Chakli Explained

Chakli
Alternate Name:Chakali, Chakli, Chakkuli, Chakri
Country:Erstwhile Karnataka i.e Deccan Plateau now includes Maharashtra and Gujarat, India
Course:Snack
Type:Fried dough
Main Ingredient:Rice flour, bengal gram flour, black gram flour, water, salt
Variations:Murukku -loaned to Tamil. Muruku means a piece in Kannada - chakli muruku means chakli piece.

Chakli is a savoury snack from India. It is a spiral-shaped snack with a spiked surface.[1]

Chakli is typically made from flours of rice, Bengal gram (brown chickpea) and black gram (urad daal). It has several variations, depending on the types and proportion of flours used. Murukku, a similar snack typically made without Bengal gram flour, is also sometimes called "chakli". Chakri is also a common nickname for "Chakradhar," a name of Indian origin. It's especially made for Diwali.It's also very popular in South Africa, introduced by the Indian diaspora. Maize flour is used instead of rice flour with the addition of salt and cumin as the basic dry ingredients. It is sold by street vendors and at neighborhood shops.

Names

Other names of the dish include Kannada: ಚಕ್ಕುಲಿ chakkuli, Marathi: चकली chakali, Odiya: ଦାନ୍ତକଲି Dantkali, Gujarati: ચકરી chakri, Telugu: చక్రాలు chakralu or jantikalu and Chakri or Chakkuli.

Murukku, a similar dish typically made without Bengal gram, is also sometimes called "chakli". Kadboli is a similar dish, which is shaped by hand instead of with an extruder. In Indonesia, murukku and chakli variations are known as akar kelapa, and are particularly popular among Betawi.[2]

History

The earliest mention of a dish similar to Chakli comes from ancient Ayurvedic texts where it is known as "Saskuli"; it was made from spiced rice flour dough with sesame seeds and then placed in a presser to form a long thread-like design and fried in ghee or oil. [3] [4] The word Saskuli literally translates to "ear-shaped" design.[5] [6] This early variation of rice flour-based chakli may have more closely resembled rice-murukku than the chakli known today.[7] The recipe that closely resembles modern Chakli finds mention in the medieval period cookbook Soopa Shastra dated to 1509 AD. This recipe was made from a blend of rice flour, Bengal gram flour and urad dal flour.[8]

Ingredients and preparation

Chakli is made from the flours of rice, Bengal gram (chickpea) and black gram (urad dal). Other ingredients include coriander seed powder, cumin seed (jeera) powder, sesame seeds, red pepper powder, turmeric powder, salt, asafoetida powder and oil.[9] Some variations also include green gram (moong) and pigeon pea (tuar/arhar) instead of black gram.[10]

The flours and seed powders are mixed, and boiling water is added to make a dough. The dough is kneaded and shaped into circular forms, using a mould. In commercial food processing units, usually a chakli extruder is used for shaping the dough.[9] The shaped dough is fried in hot oil until it becomes brown in colour. It is then removed from the oil, drained and cooled.[9]

Gallery

File:ಸಿದ್ದಗೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಿರುವ ಚಕ್ಕುಲಿ.JPG|Preparation of Chakri in hot oilFile:Frying chakli.jpg|Frying chakliFile:Chakli bhajanichi.jpg|Chaklis File:Traditional Murukku, a must have for festivals such as Deepavali.jpg|Muruku Chaklis File:Chakali.JPG|Fully cooked chakliFile:Tradtional brass chakli presser and it's various parts.jpg|Traditional brass presser used for chaklis and various other snacks.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: J. Smartt . Emmanuel Nwokolo . Food and feed from legumes and oilseeds . 30 June 1996 . Chapman & Hall . 978-0-412-45930-6.
  2. Web site: Kue Akar Kelapa Makanan Khas Lebaran Warga Bekasi | Poskotanews.com . 2011-12-18 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120430130613/http://poskota.co.id/berita-terkini/2010/08/23/kue-akar-kelapa-makanan-khas-lebaran-warga-bekasi . 2012-04-30 .
  3. Traditional Foods: Some Products and Technologies - Page 51- Central Food Technological Research Institute (India) · 1986
  4. Traditional methods of food habits and dietary preparations in Ayurveda—the Indian system of medicine https://journalofethnicfoods.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s42779-019-0016-4 - Dhanya S (2019) Journal of Ethnic Foods volume 6, Article number: 14 (2019)
  5. Srimad-Bhagavatam, Eleventh Canto: General History Disciples of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, 1982.
  6. Feasts and Fasts: A History of Food in India, page 65, Colleen Taylor Sen · 2015
  7. Spices in Indian Life, 6500 B.C.-1950 A.D. A Comprehensive and Critical Narration about the Role of Spices in Indian Life By Som Nath Mahindru, page 57, 1982.
  8. The sweet flavour of tradition: mithai, chakli and other tastes of Diwali- Sulekha Nair- October 21, 2014-https://www.firstpost.com/politics/sweet-flavour-tradition-mithai-chakli-tastes-diwali-1766589.html
  9. Book: Edmund W. Lusas . Lloyd W. Rooney . Snack Foods Processing . 5 June 2001 . CRC Press . 978-1-4200-1254-5 . 488–.
  10. Book: Neera Verma . South Indian Cook Book . Diamond Pocket Books (P) Ltd. . 978-81-7182-836-4 . 46–.