Bhajani chakli is the Diwali faral I grew up eating: crunchy spirals spiced with sesame, ajwain, and chili. This is my mom's recipe, made with bhajani, a roasted rice-and-lentil flour that gives Maharashtrian chakli its nutty flavor and crunch.
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I've included two ways to make the flour: my mom's traditional rice-and-lentil method, and an instant version from pantry flours for when you don't have a mill or a strong blender. Either way, the dough comes together the same, and the Diwali faral table needs a stack of these along with Shankarpali, Chirote, and Rava Laddu.
If you're new to chakli or have struggled before, give this post a detailed read. You'll find flour options, pro tips for perfectly crisp chakli, and step-by-step photos to guide you from making perfect dough to frying.
How to Make Bhajani (Chakli Flour)
Traditional Maharashtrian chakli gets its signature taste and crunch from bhajani, a homemade flour. In my family, we wash rice and lentils, air-dry them, and slow-roast them with cumin and coriander seeds before grinding them fine. I bring back a few pounds of my mom's bhajani every time I visit India. When so many of you asked what to do without it, she taught me two methods one summer, and I've shared both below. Short on time? A ready-made mix like K-Pra Chakli Mix from Indian grocery stores works beautifully.
Method 1: Mom's traditional recipe using rice and lentils
This recipe requires a good flour mill or a powerful blender to grind the rice and lentils. In India, Mom sends it to a professional mill that gets her finely ground flour.
Ingredients
- 1 cup basmati rice
- ½ cup chana daal
- ¼ cup urad daal
- 2 tablespoons moong daal
- 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
Instructions
Step 1 - Rinse the rice and lentils individually and drain well. Spread on separate paper towels for about 10 minutes to air-dry. Dry roast the rice and lentils, one at a time, for 5 to 6 minutes on medium heat until they start to turn light brown, stirring constantly. Roast cumin and coriander seeds for a minute. Allow all the roasted ingredients to completely cool (photos 1 - 4).
Step 2 - Grind rice and lentils in the flour mill, blender, or a small spice grinder to make fine flour. I was able to grind them in 2 to 3 batches using my small spice grinder. Sift the flour and separate the coarse flour. If the coarse flour is more than ¼ cup, grind it again to minimize the waste; otherwise, discard it. That's it! This is your homemade bhajani that can be used to make authentic bhajani chakli (photos 5 - 6).
Note: The above recipe makes 2.5 cups of flour, which should make around 25 chaklis. Since homemade flour made without a professional mill can be a bit coarse, it needs a lot more water to make a soft dough. I used almost 2 cups of water to make the dough with flour ground in my blender.
Method 2: Instant chakli flour
Here is an Instant Chakli flour recipe that can be made by simply mixing store-bought flours, so you don't need a mill.
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice flour, sifted
- ½ cup besan or gram flour, sifted
- ¼ cup urad flour, sifted
- 2 teaspoons coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
Instructions
Add rice flour, besan, and urad flour to a medium pan. Roast for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently. Allow the flour to cool completely. Mix in ground coriander and cumin.
Note: Makes slightly less than 2 cups of flour and makes 20 - 24 chaklis. For this method and quantity, I used 1 cup of water to make the chakli dough
The Chakli Press
I like the Anjali chakli press (Sorya in Marathi) that I purchased in India. It is available on Amazon in the US. Here is a brass chakli press that looks good, too.
What I've learned making chakli
- If the dough is crumbly, add water a little at a time. The flour should be smooth and well sifted. Crumbly dough is the most common reason chakli break while pressing.
- Taste the dough to make sure the salt and spices are to your taste. Add more red chili powder for a spicier chakli.
- Instant flour needs less water than homemade. Add it gradually either way.
- Test the oil with a pinch of dough. It should rise gradually in 5 to 10 seconds. Fry on high heat at first, then reduce to medium-low and turn once so they cook through and turn crisp.
- Cool in a single layer before storing airtight.
Ingredient Notes
- Bhajani flour: homemade, an instant blend, or a ready-made mix all work. Sift it first so the dough is smooth.
- Hot oil and hot water: these go into the flour first, before you knead in the room-temperature water.
- Sesame seeds and ajwain: brown sesame seeds and carom seeds (ajwain) give the signature taste.
How to Make Chakli, Step-by-Step
Step 1 - Add the flour to a mixing bowl. Add ¼ cup of hot oil and ¼ cup of hot water. Add red chili powder, carom seeds, turmeric, salt, and sesame seeds. Mix everything with a spatula. Gradually add cold water and knead to make a soft dough. Cover the dough with a moist paper towel so it does not dry out (photos 1 - 4).
Step 2 - Heat the oil in a frying pan or kadhai over medium heat. Insert the chakli disc with a star shape in the middle into the chakli press. Next, take some dough, knead it for a minute, and make it into a cylindrical shape to fit in the chakli press. Insert just enough dough to almost fill the tube. Tightly secure the top lid/handle on the tube (photos 5 - 6).
Step 3 - Start pumping out the chakli in a circular motion on small pieces of parchment paper or paper towels. I usually do 3 to 4 spiral rounds, close to each other, to make one chakli. Secure the end to the outermost circle so the chakli will stay together. Continue pressing the remaining chaklis. The tube usually holds enough dough to press out 6 to 8 chaklis (photos 7 - 8).
Step 4 - Test the oil for optimum temperature by adding a small piece of dough to the oil, which should rise up gradually in 5 to 10 seconds. If it rises too fast, lower the heat, and if it does not rise in 10 seconds, allow the oil to heat up further.
Step 5 - Carefully add chakli one at a time into the hot oil, taking care not to crowd the frying pan. You can add 3 to 6 chaklis at a time, depending on the size of your pan. Keep on high heat when adding the chakli to the hot oil. After about 1 minute, lower the heat to medium. After 2-3 minutes, turn them over, one at a time, and continue to fry on medium to low heat or until they are golden brown in color for another 1 to 2 minutes. It usually takes a total of about 5-6 minutes to perfectly fry a batch of chaklis. Lower the heat when you are ready to take out the chakli. Take them out in a paper towel-lined tray and then allow them to cool down in a single layer (photos 9 - 10).
Step 6 - Repeat pressing out the chakli and frying process for the remaining dough, steps 3 and 5. Remember to increase the heat of the oil to high before adding the next batch of chakli.
Storing
Allow the chakli to completely cool down and then store them in an airtight container at room temperature. They stay good for weeks or even months as long as you keep them away from moisture.
★ Tried this recipe? I'd love to hear how it turned out! Leave a comment and let me know, or snap a quick pic and upload it-I love seeing your creations. If you're on Instagram, tag @ministry_of_curry so I can check it out. Your feedback means so much to me and makes all the time I spend perfecting each recipe totally worth it. Thank you!
Recipe
Bhajani Chakli (Maharashtrian Chakli)
Equipment
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups Bhajani flour sifted, fine flour (see notes)
- 2 tablespoons oil hot AKA mohan
- ¼ cup water hot
- 2 tablespoons brown sesame seeds
- 1½ teaspoons ajwain/carom seeds ajwain
- 1 tablespoon kashmiri red chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ cup water room temperature
- Oil for frying
Instructions
- Add the flour to a mixing bowl. Add the hot oil and then the hot water. Add red chili powder, carom seeds, turmeric, salt and sesame seeds. Mix everything with a spatula. Gradually add cold water and knead the flour to make soft dough. (Note: You may need more water especially if the flour is coarse or older) .Cover the dough with a moist paper towel so it does not dry out.
- Start heating the oil in a frying pan or kadhai on medium heat. Insert the chakli disc with a star shape in the middle into the chakli press. Next, take some dough and knead it for a minute. Make it into a cylindrical shape to fit in the chakli press. Insert just enough dough to almost fill the tube. Tightly secure the top lid/handle on the tube.
- Start pumping out the chakli in a circular motion on small pieces of parchment paper or paper towels. I usually do 3 to 4 spiral rounds, close to each other to make one chakli. Secure the end by pinching it to the outermost circle so the chakli will stay together. Continue pressing remaining chaklis. The tube usually holds enough dough to press out 6 to 8 chaklis.
- Test the oil for optimum temperature by adding a small piece of dough to the oil, which should rise up gradually in 5 to 10 seconds. If it rises up too fast, lower the heat and if it does not rise up in 10 seconds allow the oil to heat up further.
- Carefully add chakli one at a time into the hot oil, taking care not to crowd the frying pan. You can add 3 to 6 chaklis at a time depending on the size of your pan. Keep on high heat when adding the chakli in the hot oil. After about 1 minute, lower the heat to medium. After 2-3 minutes, turn them over, one at a time and continue to fry on medium to low heat or until they are golden brown in color another 1 to 2 minutes . It usually takes a total of about 5-6 minutes to perfectly fry a batch of chaklis. Lower the heat when you are ready to take out the chakli. Take them out in a paper towel lined tray and allow to cool down in a single layer.
- Repeat pressing out the chakli and frying process for the remaining dough, steps 3 and 5. Remember to increase the heat for the oil to high before adding the next batch of chakli. Allow the chakli's to completely cool down and then store them in an airtight container at room temperature. They stay good for weeks or even months as long as you keep them away from moisture.
Notes:
- This recipe and mesurements are with my mom's super fine Bhajani flour from India. Read the main post to see how to make the flours at home especially in the US. 1. The homemade flour made without a professional mill can be a bit coarse and needs upto 2 cups of cold water to make soft dough.2. The Instant chakli flour with mixed flours, needs up to 1 cup of cold water to make soft dough.
Pro Tips
- Sift the flour especially if making homemade flour. This will remove any larger pieces of rice or lentils that have not been ground finely.
- Add water little bit at a time. Remember different flours will need different amounts of liquids to make soft dough. We found that home milled flour needed a lot more water than the instant chakli flour or mom's flour from India.
- Taste the dough to make sure the salt and spice are to your taste. Add more red chili powder for spicier chakli.
- After pressing 3 to 4 spirals, make sure to secure the end to the outermost circle so the chakli will stay together.
- Make sure the oil is hot enough before adding the chakli. This will prevent the chaklis from dissolving or breaking in the oil.
- Make sure each batch takes about 5 to 6 minutes, fry them slowly so they stay crispy for weeks.
- Adding room temperature chakli to hot oil makes the oil cooler. So make sure you have high heat when adding chakli. Wait for a minute as the chakli starts to harden and then turn over. Then remember to lower the heat and continue frying at medium low heat.
- Use a slotted spatula which will drain out most of the oil. Place fried chakli on a paper towel lined tray. Allow them to completely cool down before storing in an airtight container.
Notes
- Local Indian grocery stores also sell K-Pra Brand Chakli Ready Mix which is good for this recipe.
- Please check the full post for details on how mom makes homemade bhajani.
- 1 cup rice flour, sifted
- ½ cup besan or gram flour sifted
- ¼ cup urad flour sifted
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
Nutrition
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Rupal says
Hi, can this be made as baked snack?
Archana says
Yes bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes, turning half way thru
Jyoti says
Can we use only wheat flour for making chakli ?
Archana says
I have not tried with wheat but should work. Let me knwo if you try them 🙂
Shilpa says
Made chakli with instant flour...came out absolutely crunchy. Thank you so much.
Archana says
You are most welcome. Thank you for the feedback.
Bee says
Can we use the readymade flours of besan,Urad flour and rice flour and mix them ?
Archana says
Yes! You can
Usha says
Flavor is spot on but I had trouble with the dough - it was a little crumbly as I was pressing the spirals. Maybe I didn’t add enough water? Also I tried baking these at 350 for 12 mins but they weren’t crunchy. I’m giving them a lot more time and hopefully they’ll crisp up. Nonetheless, I’m going to try again! I used the “instant” flour recipe!
Archana says
Kudos to know for trying and willing to try again!
So depending is the flour is not fine you will need more water! See my notes. I would not recommend baking these. I would add more water if its crumbly. The flour should be smooth as shown in the video!
Usha says
Thank you! Yes I think it was a water issue - needed to add more. The flour was fine and I sifted it for good measure. I’ll definitely try again, as chakli is one of my absolute favorites. I ended up baking them for about 40 minutes total, and they were crunchy.
Barkha says
I followed the recipe with exact measurements and was very happy with the result. The chaklis tasted just like store bought. Thanks Archana for sharing the recipe.