Chegodilu for ICC

Chegodilu is a deep fried, ring shaped (ring muruku) Andra snack, is also know by other names such as Chegodi/Chekodi or Chekodilu.

When Srivalli(who is the creator of ICC event) announced Chegodilu as this months challenge, that was the first time I ever heard this name. After reading through her post and recipe, I googled for the picture of Chegodis. It looked very similar to the Kodubales (Karnataka specialty) we make. But the recipe and tastes of chegodis are lot different from the Kodubales.

Out of the two given recipes, I have followed the Recipe #2 exactly. I used a medium size cup measurement, which yield about 25 medium Chegodis.

Chegodilu - Recipe 2

Ingredients:

• Rice flour - 3/4 cup
• All purpose flour/ Maida - 1/4 cup
• Ghee - 2 tbsp
• Ajwain - 1/4 tsp
• Red chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
• Turmeric -a pinch
• Salt as per taste
• Oil to deep fry

1. Boil 1 cup water in a bowl, add salt to it.
2. When the water starts boiling, remove from stove, add ajwain, red chili powder, turmeric and flours. Stir with a ladle to make sure it is mixed well. Pour ghee on it and cover.
3. Once it cools, knead it to form smooth dough.
4. Pinch out small balls of dough and roll them like threads between your palm, bring the ends together to form into small rings.
5. Heat a pan with oil, enough to fry 3 -4 at time, if you conscious of not using too much oil. Simmer once it gets hot. The temperature should not be smoking hot.
6. Grease your fingers with oil and pinch out a small lemon size ball and roll between your palms to form a thick rope. Bring the two ends to together and press to form a rope. Ensure the ends are firmed pressed as not to give out during frying.Continue with the rest of the dough until you are done with the entire batch. You can either cover it with a plate or a cloth to prevent the dough from getting dried.
7. Check if the oil is in the correct temperature, by dropping a tiny bit into the oil. Then gently slide the rings or the chakodis in batches of 4 -5. The flame has to be on high until the chakodis come up to the surface, then lower the flame to medium and cook till you get a golden colour on the chakodis.
8. When the chakodis are golden all over, using a slotted ladle, remove to a kitchen towel and cool. Store in an air tight container for longer shelf life.

Notes: Remember to turn the heat to medium to high and high to medium for getting the chakodis to golden colour and also to be cooked evenly. Only this way you get crispy chakodis. These should not be cooked on low flame as they will absorb more oil and can turn soggy also at times.

I made them over the weekend, for our Sunday snacking and very much enjoyed the crunchy Chegodilu.

Off this goes to ICC-December hosted by Srivalli.