Authentic Bhajani Chakli

Chakli is a delightfully scrumptious snack that is often made in India during Diwali festival. Also known as Chakri, these spiral shaped crunchy snacks are made using the perfect blend of lentils and spices. Deep fried to a golden brown perfection, chaklis are lightly spiced with turmeric and chili packing in an explosion of flavors in every bite. 

I have vivid memories of walking home from school only to be greeted by the exhilarating aroma wafting from my kitchen, as my mother patiently prepared her authentic bhajanichi Chakli. Diwali faral recipes are a legacy that gets passed down from generation to generation in Indian families. My mom follows my grandma’s Chakli recipe and the result is always an out of the world snack with a perfect balance of crunch and spice!

Different parts of India have variations of this recipe. For example, in South India, Murukku(Chakli) is made using rice flour and a mild seasoning of salt and asafoetida. In Gujarat, Chakri is made with whole wheat flour or rice flour. In Maharashtra it is made with Bhajani, a special homemade flour. Chakli is easily one of the most popular Indian Diwali snack AKA faral and is best enjoyed with a piping hot cup of tea.

What is Bhajani?

Traditional Maharashtrian Chakli is made with a special homemade flour of rice and lentils called Bhajani. Rice and lentils are washed, air dried and then dry roasted over slow heat along with cumin and coriander seeds. They are then cooled down and ground to a fine flour. Everytime I visit India, I make it a point to bring few pounds of homemade bhajani.

This Bhajani flour is seasoned with spices, sesame seeds and carom seeds and kneaded into dough. The dough is then placed in a special press called Chakli Maker and Chakli are made by pressing the dough out into spiral shapes. The pressed spirals are then carefully deep fried in hot oil till they turn golden brown in color adding the perfect crispness. The resulting snack is so full of goodness and flavor, I bet you won’t be able to stop at one! 

Since everyone in my house loves Chakli, I usually stock on bhajani flour when I visit India. However, sometimes just when I plan to make some fresh crispy chakli, I find I have run out of it. So, this summer when my mom was visiting me, we tried a few different ways to make chaklis without the pre-made bhajani flour and I am thrilled to share two of our family approved methods with you. Not to mention that my boys gave these recipes a five star rating too!

How to make homemade bhajani (Chakli flour)

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 for homemade Bhajani with Rice and Lentils:

1. 1 cup rice
2. ½ cup chana daal 
3. ¼ cup urad daal
4. 2 tablespoons moong daal 
5. 2 teaspoons coriander
6. 1 teaspoon cumin 

Steps to make homemade Bhajani flour:

Step 1 – Rinse the rice and lentils individually and drain well. Spread on separate paper towels for about 10 mins to air dry. Individually dry roast the rice and lentils for 5 to 6 minutes on medium heat until they start to turn light brown, stirring all the time. Take the roasted rice or lentil out in a tray and repeat for the remaining. 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. This is it! This is your homemade bhajani that can be used to make authentic bhajani chakli (photos 5 – 6).

Notes: 

1. Makes 2.5 cups of flour that should make around 25 chaklis 
2. Since homemade flour made without a professional mill can be a bit coarse, it needs a lot more water to make 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 a few flours from your pantry. 

Ingredients for Instant chakli flour :

1. 1 cup rice flour, sifted
2. ½ cup besan or gram flour, sifted
3. ¼ cup urad flour, sifted
4. 2 teaspoons ground coriander
5. 1 teaspoon ground cumin 

Steps to make Instant chakli flour:

1. Add rice flour, besan and urad flour to a medium pan. Roast for 5 to 7 minutes stirring frequently.
2. Allow the flours to cool completely. Mix in ground coriander and cumin. 

Notes: 

1. Makes slightly less than 2 cups of flour and makes 20 – 24 chaklis
2. For this method and quantity I used 1 cup water to make the chakli dough

Where to buy a Chakli Press?

I like the Anjali chakli press that I had purchased in India. It is available on Amazon in the US. Here is a brass chakli press that looks good too.

Ministry Of Curry’s Pro tips for making perfect Chakli:

• 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. 

How to make Chakli, step by step recipe:

Step 1 – Add the flour to a mixing bowl. Add ¼ cup of hot oil and 1/4 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 the flour to make soft dough. Cover the dough with a moist paper towel so it does not dry out (photos 1 – 4).

Step 2 – 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 make it into 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 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 up too fast, lower the heat and if it does not rise up 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 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 then allow 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 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.

Did you enjoy these crunchy chakli? Here are few more of my favorite Diwali faral recipies:

1. Easy Shankarpali/Shakar Pare with basic pantry ingredients
2. No-fail Rava ladoo with fresh coconut and semolina
3. Layered Karanji or Gujia with aromatic rose coconut filling 
4. Saranachi Puri or Satori, a unique dessert with delicious coconut and jaggery filling

Want to know more about Diwali and how it is celebrtated in my family? Check out this post I wrote on How I celebrate the 5 days of Diwali, my Rituals and Traditions!!

Do you enjoy Indian food? Here are some of our go to Easy Indian recipes for celebrations and gatherings:

Here is an EASY vegetarian and non-vegetarian Indian menu idea:

Indian Vegetarian Menu 

• Chana Saag – spicy chickpeas with spinach
• Aloo Gobi – curried cauliflower and potatoes
• Whole wheat Parathas – homemade parathas or store bought Naan 
• Paneer Biryani – quick and easy Instant Pot recipe 
• Kheer – aromatic rice pudding with a simple recipe
• Sprouted bean salad – Moong bean salad with crunchy vegetables

Indian Non Vegetarian Menu 

• Shahi Chicken Korma – Royal Mughlai Curry
• Shrimp Curry  – Quick and flavorful recipe
• Parathas – whole wheat parathas
• Chicken Biriyani – Easy one pot recipe
• Rose Faluda – Ice cream sundae float
• Beet root raita – a cooling yogurt side dish

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