Chakli Recipe! Deep fried, perfectly crisp and crunchy and deliciously light spiral shaped snack. Made with whole wheat flour (chapati atta) instand of all purpose flour (maida). A perfect snack for the Diwali festival.
Chakli and its variations:
- Every region in India has its own way of making chakli.
- Maharashtra: It is called chakli and made with all purpose flour or wheat flour or besan. It is little similar to the one I have shared today.
- Gujarat: It is called Chakri. Made with atta and addition of sesame seeds and red chili powder makes it tastier.
- South India: It is called murukku or murukulu or jantikalu. It is made from rice flour or sometimes with urad dal (that is soaked and ground into paste).
- There are many versions/flavors like butter, cashew, garlic, tomato, spinach, etc.
Ingredients required for Chakli Recipe:
- Whole wheat flour (Chapati atta) - atta makes fried snacks little dense and heavy. so to make it less dense or light in texture, I have steamed the flour in a pressure cooker before making chakli. By this steaming technique, chakli will be crispy, light and melt-in-your-mouth texture.
- Sesame seeds - give a nice nutty flavor
- Red chili powder - For less spicy taste, reduce the amount
- Yogurt - helps in making the lighter texture
- Oil - added into the dough and also for deep frying.
How to make Chakli?
1) Add about a glassful of water (about 1 inch high) in the pressure cooker. Take whole wheat flour in a small container, put into the pressure cooker. I don’t have any small container that fits into my small cooker. So I used two stainless steel glasses. 
2) Cover the container with a lid. I used two small katoris to cover it up. Close the pressure cooker, put the weight on, Let it cook for 3-4 whistles on medium heat.
3) Let the pressure go down by itself, then open the lid. You will see that flour becomes hard. Now it is not in powder form. It is like a big, hard lump.
4) Remove it from the cooker carefully and take it out into a bowl.
5) Once it is cool to touch (it should be warm, not cold), then using your hand break it up, and make it again back to powder form. If there are too many lumps then you can sieve and sift it.
6) While it is warm, add sesame seeds, turmeric powder, red chili powder, and salt. Mix well.
7) Then add oil. At this moment, if the flour is not warm enough then use hot oil, otherwise used regular room temperature oil. Mix it with your hand till incorporated well.
8) Add yogurt and knead into a medium stiff yet smooth dough.
9) You might need less or more yogurt depending on your flour quality. So always start by adding little yogurt at a time and keep adding and kneading the dough.
10) Now use the chakli disk (which has a star-like hole in it) in your chakli/sev maker machine. Line your work surface with aluminum foil or parchment paper to shape chakli on it. And also heat the oil in a pan on medium heat for deep frying.
11) Now fill the container with prepared dough and close it tightly.
12) As you twist the handle chakli will come out from the bottom hole.
13) Now start shaping them into spiral form by twisting the handle with your one hand and use the other hand as a guide to move the machine in a spiral shape.
14) Pinch the end and close it/seal it, so it maintains its shape while frying. Shape 5-6 at a time and then fry together.
15) Now check the oil, it should be hot now. Drop a pinch of dough in the oil. if it comes on top immediately then the oil is too hot. If it comes on top after a long time then the oil is not hot enough. If it comes on top after 1-2 seconds, then the oil is ready to fry. Now take one spiral at a time and slide it into the hot oil carefully. Fry few of them at a time.
16) Fry till it becomes golden brown and crispy from both sides. You will need to flip the chakli for even browning. Drain excess oil using a slotted spoon.
17) And remove it to the paper towel lined plate. Repeat the shaping and frying process till all the dough is finished.
Let the fried chakli cool down completely, then store in an airtight container.
This can be served as a snack with a hot cup of tea or coffee. Or you can munch on as such any time of the day.
Check out more diwali snacks recipes
Poha chivda // Corn flakes chivda // Mathri // Farsi puri // Namak pare
📋 Recipe Card
Chakli Recipe (Wheat flour Chakli)
Ingredients
- 2 cups Whole wheat flour (Chapati atta)
- 3 tablespoons Sesame seeds
- 2 teaspoons Red chili powder
- ⅛ teaspoon Turmeric powder
- Salt to taste
- 3 tablespoons Oil + more for frying
- ½ cup + 3 tablespoons Plain yogurt (dahi, curd) may require more or less
Instructions
Steaming the flour:
- Add about a glassful of water (about 1 inch higin the pressure cooker.
- Take whole wheat flour in a small container, put into the pressure cooker and cover the container with the lid.
- Close the pressure cooker, put the weight on, Let it cook for 3-4 whistles on medium heat.
- Let the pressure go down by itself, then open the lid.
- You will see that flour becomes hard and like a big lump. Remove it from the cooker carefully and take it out into a bowl.
- Once it is cool to touch (it should be warm, not cold), then using your hand break it up, and make it again back to powder form. If there are too many lumps then you can sieve and sift it.
Making chakli recipe:
- Add sesame seeds, turmeric powder, red chili powder, and salt. Mix well.
- Then add oil. At this moment if the flour is not warm enough then use hot oil, otherwise used regular room temperature oil.
- Mix it with your hand till incorporated well.
- Add yogurt and knead into a medium stiff yet smooth dough.
- You might need less or more yogurt depending on your flour quality. So always start by adding little yogurt at a time and keep adding and kneading the dough.
- Now use the chakli disk (which has a star-like hole in iin your sev maker machine.
- Line your work surface with aluminum foil or parchment paper to shape chakli on it.
- And also heat the oil in a pan on medium heat for deep frying.
- Now fill the container with prepared dough and close it tightly.
- As you twist the handle chakli will come out from the bottom hole. Now start shaping it into spiral form by twisting the handle with your one hand and use the other hand as a guide to move the machine in a spiral shape.
- Pinch the end and close or seal it, so it maintains its shape while frying. Shape 5-6 at a time and then fry together.
- Now check the oil, it should be hot now. Now take one spiral at a time and slide it into the hot oil carefully.
- Fry till it becomes golden brown and crispy from both sides. You will need to flip the chakli for even browning. Drain excess oil using a slotted spoon.
- And remove it to the paper towel lined plate.
- Repeat the shaping and frying process for rest.
Notes
- Do not reduce the amount of oil in the dough. Otherwise, it becomes hard and chewy.
- Instead of whole wheat flour, you can use maida (all purpose flour). In this case, no need to steam the flour. Use as such.
Imemyself
Why do you steam the wheat flour in the cooker? If we skip this step what will be the difference in the chakli?
Kanan
it makes the lighter texture.
Sejal
My wheat chakli flour is not hard after steaming it 4 whistle. What to do ? Please help.
Thanks
Kanan
that's fine. Continue with next steps.
Sometimes flour does not harden depending on the quality and freshness