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Chhatua
Roasted gram flour with curd
ଛତୁଆ: roasted gram, barley and rice flours mixed with curd, banana and jaggery for Pana Sankranti
Pana Sankranti, in mid-April, is Odisha's new year and its own version of Baisakhi, and the day is kept with two cooling things: a jug of pana, the sweet bel-fruit drink, and a bowl of chhatua. The chhatua is a mix of roasted flours, usually chana, barley and rice, stirred with curd, ripe banana, jaggery and fresh coconut into a soft, sustaining mash that needs no cooking on a hot day. It is mild, sweet and nutty, and many families offer it first at the household shrine. Common mistake: making it watery; add the curd a little at a time and stop when it is like thick porridge that just holds a spoon. Chef's tip: roast your own flours in a dry pan until they smell of toast; ready-made sattu works, but freshly roasted flour has a far deeper flavour.
- Total time
- 15 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the chhatua flour
- 1 ⅜ oz roasted barley flour
- 1 ⅜ oz roasted rice flour
To mix
- 9 oz plain yoghurt (curd)
- ½ cup milkcold
- 2 ⅛ oz jaggerygrated
- 1 ⅜ oz fresh grated coconut
- ¼ tsp ground green cardamom
- 10 cashews (optional)chopped
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Method
0/4 doneStep 1: Stir together 2 ⅞ oz roasted gram flour (chana sattu), 1 ⅜ oz roasted barley flour and 1 ⅜ oz roasted rice flour in a bowl. If your flours are not pre-roasted, toast them together in a dry pan over a low heat for 5 minutes until they smell nutty, then cool.
2 minStep 2: Mash 2 ripe bananas with 2 ⅛ oz jaggery in a separate bowl until the jaggery dissolves into a sticky purée.
3 minStep 3: Add the flours, 1 ⅜ oz fresh grated coconut and ¼ tsp ground green cardamom, then stir in 9 oz plain yoghurt (curd) and ½ cup milk a little at a time until it is a thick, spoonable mash with no dry pockets.
4 minStep 4: Taste and add a little more jaggery if your curd is sour. Scatter over 10 cashews and serve straight away, with a glass of pana if you have it.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 330 kcal
- Protein
- 13 g
- Carbs
- 52 g
- Fat
- 8 g
- Fibre
- 6 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does chhatua take?
- About 15 minutes in total.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of plain yoghurt (curd)?
- Greek yoghurt loosened with a little milk.
- What can I use instead of milk?
- Oat, soy or almond milk, same amount (use unsweetened for savoury dishes).
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