Chegodilu / Chekodi November Challenge for Indian Cooking Challenge ~ Step by Step!

Planning this month's challenge for Indian Cooking Challenge had in me a toss! I knew it had to be a savory. I planned for south Indian mixture, but since it was already made, it was dropped. Running pillar to post, finally hit on Chegodi or Chegodilu as it is called in Andhra. This is one of the most favorite snack items sold in shops and of course made at home.

The other thing I wanted to make were the Karasev, but Amma cautioned that it is kind of risky attempting them as there are possibilities of missiles shooting out, if one is not careful. So heading the warning, I decided against it. I simply love Karasev, so planning to take it sometime for ICC.

Meanwhile let's enjoy making these Ring Muruku as these are called in the shops in Tamil Nadu, for this month. I went specially to shop to check out the Tamil name. I have always known this as only Chekodi.

Chekodis I remember my relatives getting us every time they visit us. We have never bought it ourselves from our area. So my memories are so intertwine with guests visiting us.

Amma gave me two recipes, selecting two ways of making a dish always gives us much challenge. As usual with all challenges I attempt it at the last moment. First time I made, I thought I would just try it as I think it can be easy and ended up with a chekodi that was crisp to begin with and ended up being little soft.

So I again made it following the method of cooking the flour, it came out really very crispy and very crunchy.

I was discussing on this with Lataji and Nimi on the flour texture. Lataji used both shop bought rice flour and home made flour. Nimi tried with shop bought and thought it was breaking. I explained to her that this is primarily to do with the dampness that has to be there in the flour. So again for this one has to grind the flour at home for best results. Else should increase the moisture content.

You can follow this method for making rice flour at home. Most might feel it is laborious, but when you are making small quantity, it is really not.

I made the first recipe, will be trying the recipe 2 sometime later.

Enjoy these crunchy chekodi with a cup of tea or coffee!

Chegodilu / Chekodilu - Recipe 1

Ingredients Needed:

Rice Flour - 1 cup
Water - 1 cup
Split Yellow Moong dal / Pesara pappu / Mung Dal / Pasiparuppu - 1 1/2 - 2 tblsp
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Sesame Seeds - 1 tsp
Chili powder - 1 tsp
Ghee or oil - 1 tblsp
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

Method to prepare:

Making the dough:

Soak moong dal in water for half hour to 1 hour.

In a deep bottom pan, boil water, then add salt, ghee and moong dal. Bring it to boil, simmer and slowly add the rice flour. Using a rolling pin or the ladle, mix the flour with water by stirring it well. When the flour is mixed and done, turn off the heat immediately. Cover with lid and keep aside for 10 to 15 mins.

Once the dough is cool, add chilli powder, sesame seeds, cumin seeds and mix well. Knead till you get a smooth dough. Adjust the salt and spice depending on your preference.

Frying the Chokodi:

Heat a pan with oil, enough to fry 3 -4 at time, if you conscious of not using too much oil. Simmer once it gets hot. The temperature should not be smoking hot.

Grease your fingers with oil and pinch out a small lemon size ball and roll between your palms to form a thick rope. Bring the two ends to together and press to form a rope. Ensure the ends are firmed pressed as not to give out during frying.

Continue with the rest of the dough until you are done with the entire batch. You can either cover it with a plate or a cloth to prevent the dough from getting dried.

Check if the oil is in the correct temperature, by dropping a tiny bit into the oil. Then gently slide the rings or the chakodis in batches of 4 -5. The flame has to be on high until the chakodis come up to the surface, then lower the flame to medium and cook till you get a golden colour on the chakodis.

When the chakodis are golden all over, using a slotted ladle, remove to a kitchen towel and cool. Store in an air tight container for longer shelf life.

Notes: Remember to turn the heat to medium to high and high to medium for getting the chakodis to golden colour and also to be cooked evenly. Only this way you get crispy chakodis. These should not be cooked on low flame as they will absorb more oil and can turn soggy also at times.

Variation: Instead of Cumin and Sesame seeds, 1 tsp of Ajwain or Omam can be used along with chili powder.

Chegodilu - Recipe 2


Ingredients Needed:

Rice flour - 3/4 cup
All purpose flour/ Maida - 1/4 cup
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Ajwain - 1/4 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric really a pinch
Salt as per taste
Oil to deep fry

Boil 1 cup water in a bowl, add salt to it.

When the water starts boiling, remove from stove, add ajwain, red chilli powder, turmeric and flours. Stir with a ladle to make sure it is mixed well. Pour ghee on it and cover.

Once it cools, knead it to form smooth dough.

Pinch out small balls of dough and roll them like threads between your palm, bring the ends together to form into small rings

Fry them in hot oil til they turn golden in colour. You can follow the same procedure as the first recipe.

To all my ICC members, please link your Chegodilu / Chekodi post to Mr. Linky.