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 (brown chickpea) and black gram (urad daal). It has several variations, depending on the types and proportion of flours used. Murukku, a similar snack typically made without Bengal gram flour, is also sometimes called "chakli". Chakri is also a common nickname for "Chakradhar," a name of Indian origin. It's especially made for Diwali. It's also very popular in South Africa, introduced by the Indian diaspora. Maize flour is used instead of rice flour with the addition of salt and cumin as the basic dry ingredients. It is sold by street vendors and at neighborhood shops.

Names
Other names of the dish include ಚಕ್ಕುಲಿ chakkuli, चकली chakali, Odiya: ଦାନ୍ତକଲି Dantkali,  ચકરી chakri, చక్రాలు chakralu or jantikalu and.

Murukku, a similar dish typically made without Bengal gram, is also sometimes called "chakli". Kadboli is a similar dish, which is shaped by hand instead of with an extruder. In Indonesia, murukku and chakli variations are known as akar kelapa, and are particularly popular among Betawi.

History
The earliest mention of a dish similar to Chakli comes from ancient Ayurvedic texts where it is known as "Saskuli"; it was made from spiced rice flour dough with sesame seeds and then placed in a presser to form a long thread-like design and fried in ghee or oil. The word Saskuli literally translates to "ear-shaped" design. This early variation of rice flour-based chakli may have more closely resembled rice-murukku than the chakli known today. The recipe that closely resembles modern Chakli finds mention in the medieval period cookbook Soopa Shastra dated to 1509 AD. This recipe was made from a blend of rice flour, Bengal gram flour and urad dal flour.

Ingredients and preparation
Chakli is made from the flours of rice, Bengal gram (chickpea) and black gram (urad dal). Other ingredients include coriander seed powder, cumin seed (jeera) powder, sesame seeds, red pepper powder, turmeric powder, salt, asafoetida powder and oil. Some variations also include green gram (moong) and pigeon pea (tuar/arhar) 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.

Gallery
 File:ಸಿದ್ದಗೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಿರುವ ಚಕ್ಕುಲಿ.JPG|Preparation of Chakri in hot oil File:Frying chakli.jpg|Frying chakli File:Chakli bhajanichi.jpg|Chaklis File:Traditional Murukku, a must have for festivals such as Deepavali.jpg|Muruku Chaklis File:Chakali.JPG|Fully cooked chakli File:Tradtional brass chakli presser and it's various parts.jpg|Traditional brass presser used for chaklis and various other snacks.