Tome And Plume: Litti Ka Crunch, Chokha Ka Spice With Bhopali Wits Sabse Nice

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): If love had a flavour, it would taste like Litti Chokha – Anonymous

Residents of Bhopal enjoy ‘litti chokha ', which arrived in the state capital from Bihar a long time ago. Yet, the history of its advent, from the banks of the Ganga in Bihar to the shores of the Upper Lake, lacks fixed dates.

It came to Bhopal with the people from Bihar, who gradually made the city their home. The story of litti chokha’s entry in the city corresponds to that of the spicy jhal muri from West Bengal.

For its look and aroma, Litti Chokha steals the limelight at any food show, and an epicure easily falls in love with it, being oblivious to its impact.

In Bhopal, people, however, call it ‘witty chokha’ because of the witty remarks associated with the kitchen masterpiece, featuring wheat balls stuffed with sattu and savoured with smoky vegetable mash. A foodie can find Litti Chokha across the city. The cost varies from Rs 30 to Rs 100 a plate.

A resident of Bhopal often quips: a piece of ‘litti’ without a 'ghee bath' resembles a sunless December Sunday. But a Bengali may mistake 'ghee bath' for ‘Ghee Bhaat' (rice with ghee), which the Bengalis relish. Queen Cleopatra, known for her beauty and elegance, supposedly bathed in she-donkey’s milk. So, it should surprise no one if our ‘culinary Cleopatra’, 'litti', bathes in ghee made from cow or buffalo milk. Or else, it appears as dry as parched earth. Thus, before savouring litti, one must baptise it in a bowl of melted ghee. If the tiny bumps on your tongue and stomach refuse ghee-soaked littis, you can consume them dry.

Another hilarious comment that a foodie often hears at Litti Chokha stalls in Bhopal: Litti eternally husbands with chokha (mash of vegetables). A gastronome should respect chokha, or else he might remain hungry.

The aroma of Litti roasted over cow-dung cakes (upla or goitha in Bihar) overpowers a foodie. In an urban apartment, roasting litti over cow-dung cakes may invite neighbours' wrath as well as envy.

It may even embitter the relations between the litti-maker and his neighbours. Yet he may resolve the dispute by inviting them to the Litti Chokha party.

A cook may also prepare 'litti' in a pressure cooker without the whistle. Then the poor little 'littis' may scream from inside the cooker, as overeating this delicious food often does from the stomach of a gourmand.

The other day, a food lover commented: Until an eggplant used for ‘chokha’ looks like a piece of modern art drawn with charcoal, it lacks elegance. The word 'litti' strikes instantly with Indians, particularly Biharis, across the world. In Mauritius, people call a type of home-made bread 'litti', which indicates the word's popularity.

Litti Chokha takes a foodie back to the Mauryan period when the people also called this food 'manda', meant for the soldiers of the emperor. They carried ‘Manda’ because it remained fresh for several days and required minimal water and utensils.

Travellers also favoured the food, as they survived on it during long journeys. During the first freedom struggle against British rule in 1857, the revolutionaries survived on litti and chokha. According to folklore, Rani Lakshmi Bai chose it as the food for rebels who hid in jungles and caves. Savouring a piece of litti, dipped in ghee, with chokha turns out to be a joy forever. A Bhopali delights in it. He says litti chokha is not just a food; it consists of aroma of soil, modesty of village, and the balminess of a clay oven.

Arup Chakraborty