Cha Cha Chakuli

After "not concentric circle" dosa post of last month, now is the time for some "concentric circle" Chakuli - a popular Odiya breakfast item! *~*

So light - you can easily finish off 4-5! :)

Long time back, I posted the Maida Chakuli here. I guess Chakuli and Dosa belong to the same family. Here's my take on the Chakuli and this is what works for me. Anytime I mention my recipe, someone or the other jumps in and tells me to do it slightly differently or using a different proportion for the batter - I have decided to not listen to anyone regarding this anymore. Coz everytime I do, my Chakuli's don't turn out good and I am left a angry frustrated person. And you don't want me anywhere near you when I am like this...hmmp! :)

Ingredients

Makes about 40 Chakulis! :)

Urad dal paste : Rice flour paste = 1:2 .. 1:4 depending on how "urady" you want it to taste
Crushed dry Methi 1 tbsp
Eno - 1 tsp
Salt - as per taste
Water - to thin the paste slightly such that when you drop the paste, it should fall in one line from the spoon.

Method:

• Wash Ural dal clean. 
• Soak Urad dal with crushed dry Methi for half a day. Tip - Methi aids digestion.

• Grind it finely with the methi seeds included.
• Keep it aside outside (not fridge) covered for half a day. This will let it ferment. I usually put them in multiple containers and only take out the container I can finish in a day - it lasts for about a week.
• Mix rice flour with water and make a thick paste. Add little water at a time so that it does not become runny. As Maa says, making it runny and then adding extra flour to fix it will mess up the taste and texture.

• Take 1 serving of ural dal with 2 to 4 servings of the rice flour. This works perfectly for me than by using the pre-soaked forms of ural and rice and using their proportion! :)
• Add few spoons of water if you need to lighten it - the consistency should be such that when the skillet is in Medium heat, you get sufficient time to drop one spoon of the paste and spread it using concentric circles.

Chakuli Batter

• Continue in Medium heat cooking.
• Make sure the batter is in room temperature if it was in the fridge earlier on. Very important else it affects the texture of the chakuli.
• Few drops of oil (optional) - spread the batter using concentric circles and let it cook one side. Optional to turn it over and cook the other side - I do it to make sure it is cooked well as well.

If you were counting, "concentric circles" has been mentioned three times and that is the number of turns I usually get to do for my Chakuli! ;) 

Chakuli - View of both the sides ( Good to have the same in life too! ;) ) 

By the way, this tastes heavenly with a mix of White Sugar and Clarified butter aka Ghee (or as we Odiyas call it Ghia)! Both are sinful and in the list of things to avoid for many, including your's truly, but this is one combination I just cannot resist! Used to wait for and love this as a kid..still do! This also tastes great with spicy Mutton curry - try it! :)

On a side note, you have got to try the Magnum ice-creams - they are delicioso! Check them out - I love the double caramel and white chocolate flavor - it got over so soon! :(

Have a great day, everyone! :)

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Update on 04/13/2012:

This  goes to Divya's Culinary Journey's event "Let's Part Every Month" with this month's theme being "Breakfast". The event announcement page is here - check it out and send in your recipes if you are interested. This event was started by dear Surabhi and the event page is here. Check out all the wonderful posts the event has received!