Chakli


Chakli is a savoury snack from India. It is a spiral shaped snack with a spiked surface.
Chakli is typically made from flours of rice, bengal gram and black gram. It has several variations, depending on the types and proportion of flours used. Murukku, a similar snack typically made without the Bengal gram flour, is also sometimes called "chakli".

Names

Other names of the dish include Odisha: ଦାନ୍ତକଲି Dantkali முறுக்கு murukku, चकली chakali, ಚಕ್ಕುಲಿ chakkuli, ચકરી chakri, చక్రాలు chakralu, or జంతికలు jantikalu and Chakri or Chakkuli.
Murukku, a similar dish typically made without the bengal gram, is also sometimes called "chakli". Kadboli is a similar dish, which is shaped by hand instead of an extruder. In Indonesia, murukku and chakli variations are known as akar kelapa, and are particularly popular among Betawi.

Ingredients and preparation

Chakli is made from flours of rice, bengal gram and black gram. Other ingredients include coriander seed powder, cumin seed powder, sesame seeds, red pepper powder, turmeric powder, salt, asafoetida powder and oil. Some variations also include green gram and pigeon pea instead of black gram.
The flours and seed powders are mixed, and boiling water is added to make a dough. The dough is kneaded and shaped into circular forms, using a mould. In commercial food processing units, usually a chakli extruder is used for shaping the dough. The shaped dough is fried in hot oil, until it becomes brown in colour. It is then removed from the oil, drained and cooled.