On a litti-chokha spree

If your nose subconsciously dives in the direction of the smokey aroma of litti-chokha, then you are at the right place.

Metrolife went about scouring for the trademark Bihari delight around the city, questioning native-Biharis and litti-chokha lovers about the best offerings in the town. Baked over charcoal-filled earthen furnaces, litti is made up of roasted black-gram balls stuffed with sattu. Chokha is the smokey concoction of brinjals, potatoes, tomatoes and chillies achieved by roasting these vegetables under direct flame.

Coming from Bhagalpur, Pratik Kumar is unquestionably an ardent litti-chokha fan. Residing in Pandav Nagar gives him an advantage over other Biharis. The area boasts of several little shops and vendors who start dotting the streets as soon as the sun mellows down

“With a cart adorned with an Aamir Khan poster, a neighbouring litti-chokha vendor offers it for 20 rupees. His cart claims that litti-chokha is rich in both proteins and carbohydrates as even Aamir Khan ate it during one of the India International Trade Festivals in Delhi.” The litti served at this little kiosk is both burnt and smokey with a very crisp taste to it. He offers the platter with chokha and an amla-dhaniya chutney as a condiment.

If Pandav Nagar offers roasted and baked litti-chokha, the vendor outside Supreme Enclave apartments in Mayur Vihar fries his litti and serves it with chhole.  It ends up tasting like kachori-chhole, sans kachori to it. But you cannot downplay Bhushan Poddar’s success as he’s been selling these littis for the last six years.

For an array of litti-chokha vendors to choose from, step outside Noida’s Metro stations and get boggled with the multiplicity of vendors. The area around Shoprix mall is almost panelled with litti-chokha vendors offering this delicious delight at a humble price of 20 rupees. They embark upon the food scene as early as 9 am in the morning, making litti-chokha quite popular as a breakfast and lunch item for food. While the crispy and piping hot littis at all these carts taste amazing, what differentiates them are the variety of chutneys on offer.

While office goers in Noida gorge upon that, students like Abhinav Sharma dash to Jawahar Lal University’s Campus when food pangs strike them at the 9 in the night. “The litti-chokha vendor outside Ganga dhaba is one of my favourites. He usually sets up his cart around 8 in the evening to serve some heavenly littis to the students around.”