Litti and a Century!

After what seems to be time that went by in a flash, here I am with my 100th post. Co-incidentally today happens to be exactly four months from when I posted my first recipe. Through the thrill of receiving the first comment, the sense of achievement of getting a complex traditional recipe right, the joy of making great new friends, the sense of humility when someone tried out a recipe and it turned out great, learning great new recipes from all my awesome fellow bloggers, the occasional anonymous visitor that likes a dish and makes your day, it has been out and out an joy-ride.
Hubby deserves a special mention. He is the one who keeps the show going between tasting my dishes, taking awesome pictures and being my 24 x 7 technical support :) Thanking him would actually diminish the value that he adds to my efforts.
Now to the dish itself. When you think Bihari cuisine, Litti is arguably the first dish that comes to mind. Having its roots deep in Bihari culture, the humble litti has come to gain global popularity. It is basically a crispy roasted dough ball stuffed with a spicy tangy filling made of Sattu. Sattu is a flour made of roasted grams or chana. Mainly popular in Bihar and UP regions of India. It is often considered as a very low budget and nutritious meal full of fiber and protein. It is a favorite and staple at almost all bihari homes. Litti traditionally served dipped in ghee with a side of either aloo/baigna chokha or tomato chutney.
One memory which is strongly attached to this dish is whenever we used to go to our grandparents' place. Imagine littis and chokha made of potatoes and eggplant fresh from your farm, all roasted in your backyard on a cool winter evening over an open coal fire. Can you smell it yet!  What made it more fun was making the event like a picnic with all my cousins and having a ball of a time. Our Daadi whom I fondly used to call 'Maa' would be the ring leader driving us all.
Time has since flown, I miss grandma now but even today when I sit in my patio on a cold rainy evening, I still sometimes can smell the aroma of those littis roasting on that open coal fire...
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