Chekkalu or Pappu Chekkalu or Karam billalu

"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail". Harold R. McAlindon


Todays receipe is Chekkalu.  It is simple yet delicious. Its a nice tea-time snack.

Ingredients

Rice flour - 500 gms

Bengal gram - 2 tbsps (soaked for an hour)

Carom seeds - 2 tbsp 

Sesame seeds - 2 tbsps

Salt as per taste

Red chilli powder as per taste

Turmeric powder -1 tsp

Peanuts - 3 tsps(nicely roasted and chopped)

Water as required

Curry leaves - 2 strings (roughly crushed)

Oil for deep frying

Method 

1. Take a bowl add the rice flour. Add bengal gram, carom seeds, sesame seeds, salt, red chili powder, turmeric powder, peanuts and curry leaves. 

2. Boil some water and add to the above content slowly and make a dough. 

3. Rest the dough for half an hour. Place a damp cloth on the  dough so that it wont get dry. 

4. Heat the oil. Before its hot mean while make chekkalu on a plastic sheet each of 4 inch diameter and deep fry them.

Note

1. We use hot water for making a dough. This makes the chekkalu to puff a little. 

2. Before making the whole batch, make 2 or 3. Let them cool and check whether the salt and red chilli powder ratio proportions.  if necessary you can add. 

3.You can also prepare using besan or gram flour. You can add rice flour and besan in 1:1 ratio.

4.Always maintain the flame in medium so that you can have uniform color to all the chekkalu.