Provenance: Bihar
Popularity: Largely regional
Category: Streetfood
Taste: Varies with the degree of hunger
It’s called Litti.
Knack for the unusual has taken me far and wide – and lately made me try this oft-heard Bihari bestseller from a blink-and-you-miss-it vendor on RN Mukherjee Road opposite Birla building. I was happy!
In short and in spirit, it’s a Zen food – very honest, tastes fulfilling when partaken of with sincerity and in empty stomach – being dough balls [often rolled flat] made of whole wheat flour and stuffed with roasted chickpea flour [Sattu], herbs like onion, garlic, ginger, coriander leaves and lime juice and then, having roasted over coal or wood, tossed with ghee [of questionable purity].
Two flat Littis served with yogurt, baigan [Brinjal] bharta, an unusual chilli pickle [on demand] and finely chopped onion left me licking fingers for a while. The kind vendor taught me the art of savouring Litti hinting at the peculiarity of its taste that tarries to develop. It appeared that the earthy beauty of this delicacy - commanding restricted popularity of course, unfolds only when prepared with authentic regional spices and savoured with a curious mind to the accompaniment of the right sides – be it Bengan bharta or Alu Chokha.
It carries a taste worth cultivation and culinary pursuit...
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