Multigrain Baked Chakli
Oven-baked multigrain chakli with jowar, ragi, and rice flour. Soft dough, star-pressed coils, bake and flip until golden. Sesame-cumin tea-time crunch with far less oil than fried murukku.
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Chakli / murukku press with star disk
- Baking tray lined with parchment
- Wire rack for cooling
Ingredients
For the dough
- 1/2 cup jowar flour sorghum flour
- 1/4 cup ragi flour finger millet / nachni
- 1/4 cup fine rice flour
- 2-3 teaspoons melted ghee or neutral oil
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds white, black, or mixed
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds lightly roasted and coarsely crushed
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder or 1/2 tsp crushed black pepper for a milder jar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
- pinch hing asafoetida, optional
- 1/3-1/2 cup water as needed
Instructions
Make the dough
- In a bowl, mix jowar flour, ragi flour, rice flour, sesame seeds, crushed cumin, chili powder (or pepper), salt, and hing if using.
- Add melted ghee or oil. Rub it into the flours with your fingertips until the mix looks lightly moistened (moyan).
- Add water a tablespoon at a time and knead into a soft, pliable dough. It should pipe smoothly without cracking. Cover with a damp cloth so it does not dry out.
Press the chakli
- Preheat the oven to 360°F / 180°C. Line a baking tray with parchment.
- Grease the inside of the chakli press and fit the star disk. Fill with dough about three-quarters full.
- Press out tight swirls about 2 inches (5 cm) wide onto the parchment, working from the center outward. Leave a little space between coils. Re-knead any remaining dough with a teaspoon of water if it has dried.
Bake
- Bake 15 minutes. Carefully flip each chakli with tongs or a spatula.
- Bake another 12 to 15 minutes until the edges are golden and the spirals feel firm. They will crisp further as they cool. Start checking at 10 minutes on the second side so the tips do not darken too far.
- Cool completely on a wire rack, then store in an airtight jar.
Notes
Fine rice flour matters. Coarse flour makes the dough crack in the press.
If the dough breaks while pressing, knead in water 1 teaspoon at a time. If it is too wet and loses shape, work in 1 tablespoon rice flour.
For a milder kid jar, use black pepper instead of red chili and keep the sesame and cumin.
Air fryer alternate for small batches: 360°F / 180°C, single layer, about 10 to 12 minutes, flip, then 6 to 8 minutes more. Watch closely; air fryers vary.
A whole-wheat-and-seeds baked chakli is a nice sister jar when you want a wheatier bite; this recipe stays millet-forward on purpose.
Store only after the chakli is fully cool. Room temperature airtight jar keeps about 7 to 10 days in a dry kitchen.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!