Pappu Chekkalu is a rice cracker , which is crispy and crunchy , mildly spiced and with a flavour of curry leaves . This is a Andhra speciality .
We are now in the last week of the September Mega Marathon where we have been posting recipes under the theme Sweets and Snacks . The first week we posted different Sweets and week 2 and 3 I posted snacks all dry snacks / jar snacks / Diwali Snacks from my very own state Gujrat. The last week is one of the most interesting one , where we have been given a snack which we all will be posting on the same day . Everyone has a different perspective and way of presentation , recipe , so we shall be seeing the same snack in different avatars !
For the first day we have the famous Andhra snack Pappu Chekkalu . This is a snack that I really enjoy eating on my South trips . Itâs a very crunchy rice cracker .
Before making this cracker , I watched a couple of videos , and I found the cracker very easy . So one fine evening I worked on it . It tasted awesome , but lacked the crunchiness that is required . I packed them in a airtight container and decided to click in the morning . I was pretty shocked when I opened the container , the crackers were soggy and seemed like a soft poori .
I wondered where I had gone wrong , so watched couple of more videos and finally made them . This time I wanted to be sure that I do not go wrong ! I realised that the dough had to be hard and very little water should be used to bind . The second important tip is that the fire has to be from low to medium .
I got ready made flour , but what I learnt from some friends was that we should make our own rice flour . Some of the recipes have peanuts while some didnât . I added cumin and pepper to season along with ginger chilly and curry leaves .
This time the Chekkalu turned out nice and crisp . But at the same time I wish I should have made them slightly thinner , though these got over quite fast . So letâs get to the recipe .
Pappu Chekkalu
Ingredients
1 cup rice flour
1tbsp channa daal , soaked for 1 hour .
Pinch salt
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp peppercorns
1 tbsp butter
3-4 curry leaves
1 green chilly
A small piece ginger
Oil to fry
Method
Take rice flour in a mixing bowl .
Add a pinch of salt .
Add the soaked and drained chana daal .
Roughly pound the cumin and peppercorns and add to the flour.
Make a paste of curry leaves , green chillies and ginger . Add this to the flour .
Add butter and mix everything very well , till the butter is completely incorporated .
Using very little water , bind the dough .
Make sure the dough is stiff and hard .
Make balls out of the dough .
Place the oil to heat .
Using a plastic sheet place the dough ball and press it with fingers to make a disc .
The disc can be thin or even slightly thick .
Fry on moderate flame , let the colour not change .
Remove the cracker once you see the chana dal colour changes and is crisp .
Store after they have cooled down .
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Day 3 Motichoor Cheese Cake
Day 4 Kesari Mango Shrikhand with Roasted Almonds
Day 5 Kesari Phirni with Mango & Nuts
Day 6 Rabdi
Week 2 Gujrat – City Specific Specialities
Day 7 Dry Fruit Kachori – Jamnagar Special
Day 8 Papad nu Chavanu – Khambat Special
Day 9 Tum Tum – Nadiad Special
Day 10 Tikha Ganthia – Bhavnagar Special
Day 11 Leelo Chevdo – Vadodara Special
Day 12 Limbu Mari ne Sev
Week 3 Gujrat Festival Special
Day 13 Bajri na Vada
Day 14 Methi Poori
Day 15 Fulwadi
Day 16 Farsi Poori
Day 17 Sada Khakhra – in a griller toster
Day 18 Besan Sev
Pappu Chekkalu
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice flour
- 1 tbsp channa daal soaked for 1 hour .
- Pinch salt
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp peppercorns
- 1 tbsp butter
- 3-4 curry leaves
- 1 green chilly
- piece A smallginger
- Oil to fry
Instructions
- Take rice flour in a mixing bowl .
- Add a pinch of salt .
- Add the soaked and drained chana daal .
- Roughly pound the cumin and peppercorns and add to the flour.
- Make a paste of curry leaves , green chillies and ginger . Add this to the flour .
- Add butter and mix everything very well , till the butter is completely incorporated .
- Using very little water , bind the dough .
- Make sure the dough is stiff and hard .
- Make balls out of the dough .
- Place the oil to heat .
- Using a plastic sheet place the dough ball and press it with fingers to make a disc .
- The disc can be thin or even slightly thick .
- Fry on moderate flame , let the colour not change .
- Remove the cracker once you see the chana dal colour changes and is crisp .
- Store after they have cooled down .
These turned out good Vaishali. As for thickness, it depends from household to household. We prefer thin ones. For crunchy chekkalu, After pressing chekkalu, place them on a cloth for at least 10-15 minutes until the cloth observes most of the moisture and then deep fry. Here is a link for sbs pictures. I used black eyed peas but can substitute it with peanuts. https://www.myspicykitchen.net/bobbari-garelu-chekkalu-rice-flour-black-eyed-peas-crackers/
Thanks for the tip Usha, will definitely try it,
You have surely got a lovely looking pappu billalu Vaishali. These deep fried ones always spring a surprise on us. Glad you got it right the second time!
Yours turned out nice and crunchy Vaishali. As Usha said, if the water content is more than needed, we also place them on a cotton cloth for 10-15 minutes.
You got those right, Vaishali. Usha’s tip is helpful but since we already know that the dough has to be stiff, I have never encountered this problem. Your presentation takes the first prize đ
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Glad that the second trial was a success. It really sucks when the first attempts end up being disasters, especially when we are trying for events and we haven’t seen before the preparation first hand, right?
As Harini mentioned, we keep the dough tight and so never knew or needed that drying on the cloth tip. Also we add hot oil while making the dough which make the chekkalu crispier. A little more than the butter quantity you mentioned. And seems like you mastered the other tips based on trials. đ
Thanks Suma . I canât say I mastered , but the second batch was crisp and i was happy . I definitely need to improve on the thickness and texture . Thanks a ton for the tips .
Pappu chekkalu have turned out very nice Vaishali. I have never added peppercorns to the this dish. They must have given very nice taste and flavor. Good one
awesome, wonderful
Tasty
Thickness is surely our preference. But thinner ones will be more crispy and crunchy for long time. Pappy chekkalu looks so delicious and inviting.