Chekkalu Recipe – South Indian Rice Crackers

Chekkalu Recipe (చెక్కలు) is a classic Andhra snack that doesn’t require any special ingredient or equipment to make at home.

One of the most relished munchies of my childhood is chekkalu, which I savour till date. These deep-fried rice crackers are a must in my house throughout the year as this is everybody’s choice for an evening snack.

These chekkalu are named differently (పప్పు చెక్కలు/Nippattu/Thattai) in other states of south India, but the main ingredients remain the same.

Chekkalu Recipe is All a Matter of Taste Not Shape:

Generally, chekkalu are made in circular shapes and are pressed before dropping into the oil. This is a different and easy chekkalu recipe. These asymmetrical chekkalu are my mother’s special which she has developed herself. Only the making varies, but everything else remains the same.

We used to eat a lot of chekkalu / rice crackers as children and my mother has to stock them up in big containers. Pressing before dropping in the oil used to take a lot of time, that’s when she developed this method of pressing chekkalu.

Chekkalu Recipe – How To Make Chekkalu?

For me, these chekkalu are more crispy and crunchy than the circular ones. Simple, easy and mainly not time-consuming compared to the other versions of chekkalu recipes. Try out this traditional superb easy chekkalu recipe and let me know the feedback.

These crunchy chekkalu can be served along with evening tea. They can also be used as munchies while watching television and as a snack in your child’s snack box.

step wise కరకరలాడే పప్పు చెక్కలు homemade rice crackers recipe:

Chekkalu Recipe – South Indian Rice Crackers:

Recipe Type: Snacks
Cuisine: Andhra
Author: Cherie
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Total time: 25 mins

Chekkalu or Rice Crackers is an authentic Andhra snack recipe.

Main Ingredients for Chekkalu Recipe::

• Rice flour – 2 cups
• Chana dal soaked at least for 1 hour – ½ cup
• Curry leaves
• Melted Butter – ½ cup
• Oil for deep frying
• Ginger 1-inch piece
• Green chillies – 4
• Water for mixing
• Salt as per taste

Instructions:

• Grind the ginger and green chillies to a coarse paste.
• Sieve the rice flour and transfer to a large mixing bowl.
• To the flour, add salt, butter, soaked split chickpeas, ginger and chilli paste and mix well.
• Adding little water at a time, knead to the thick dough and keep aside for 5 mins. The dough should be a little thicker than the roti dough.
• Heat oil for dry frying in a thick bottomed Kadai. Once the oil is ready, test the oil for the proper heat by adding a small amount of dough into the oil and it should rise immediately.
• Once the oil is ready, take a medium-sized ball of the dough which fits your palm. Drop into oil by pressing with three fingers using the thumb slowly into the pan.
• If you are not okay with pressing them like that directly into the pan, you can also use the same dough to press the regular circular chekkalu. Take a polythene cover and press a small ball of dough into a circle and drop it into the Kadai. In this method, you have to keep ready at least 2 batches of chekkalu at a time to drop into the oil.
• Fry these chekkalu / rice crackers till golden brown and store in an airtight container.

Notes:

* While frying chekkalu, the dough should not be left open as it will be dried up. Instead, cover the dough with a moist cloth completely. The cloth should be moist, not wet and no water should be dripping from it. This is to retain the moisture in the dough and not to dry up.

** My mother makes her rice flour every time she makes chekkalu. She soaks rice and lets them dry on a cloth in a cool place till the moisture is gone. Then she grinds the rice to a fine powder. She calls it “thadi pindi” and she uses it all up at one go.

*** But if you think you cannot do all that, you can use the regular rice flour we get in the market and still get that crispy chekkalu. చెక్కలు కరకరలాడుతూ క్రిస్పీ గా వస్తాయి.

Crispy Pappu Chekkalu Recipe

Cherie

Learn how to make chekkalu step wise. (Andhra snack పప్పు చెక్కలు Nippattu/Thattai)

5 from 2 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Soaking Time 1 hour hr

Course Snack

Cuisine andhra, Indian, South Indian

Servings 30 pieces

Calories 60 kcal

Ingredients

  

• 2 cups Rice flour
• 1 cup Chana dal soaked at least for 1 hour
• Few Curry leaves
• 1/2 cup Melted Butter
• Oil for deep frying
• 1 inch Ginger 
• 4 Green chillies 
• Water for mixing
• Salt as per taste

Instructions

 

• Grind the ginger and green chillies to a coarse paste.
• Sieve the rice flour and transfer to a large mixing bowl.
• To the flour, add salt, butter, soaked split chickpeas, ginger and chilli paste and mix well.
• Adding little water at a time, knead to the thick dough and keep aside for 5 mins. The dough should be a little thicker than the roti dough.
• Heat oil for dry frying in a thick bottomed Kadai. Once the oil is ready, test the oil for the proper heat by adding a small amount of dough into the oil and it should rise immediately.
• Once the oil is ready, take a medium-sized ball of the dough which fits your palm. Drop into oil by pressing with three fingers using the thumb slowly into the pan.
• If you are not okay with pressing them like that directly into the pan, you can also use the same dough to press the regular circular chekkalu. Take a polythene cover and press a small ball of dough into a circle and drop it into the Kadai. In this method, you have to keep ready at least 2 batches of chekkalu at a time to drop into the oil.
• Fry these chekkalu / rice crackers till golden brown and store in an airtight container.

Notes

* While frying chekkalu, the dough should not be left open as it will be dried up. Instead cover the dough with a moist cloth completely. The cloth should be moist not wet and no water should be dripping from it. This is to retain the moisture in the dough and not to dry up.

** My mother makes her rice flour every time she makes chekkalu. She soaks rice and lets the dry on a cloth in a cool place till the moisture is gone. Then she grinds the rice to a fine powder. She calls it “thadi pindi” and she uses it all up at one go. But if you think you cannot do all that, you can use the regular rice flour we get in the market and still get those crispy chekkalu.

Keyword andhra style spice rice cracker, evening snack, healthy snack, nippattu, thattai

Take a Look at Few Healthy Snack Recipes:

If you are looking for more snack recipes then do check bobbarla punugulu recipe, Indian pakoras recipe, and minapa garelu recipe.