Chitti Boorelu

On one episode of the sitcom Friends, a neighbour describes Monica’s chocolates as little drops of heaven; I could not think of a better metaphor to describe what Chitti Boorelu are to me.

I dedicate this recipe to my cousin Sreela, who is as crazeeeee about Chitti Boorelu as I am! 🙂

This is not a recipe for weight watchers or calorie counters. But hey, what is life without its guilty pleasures? 🙂

Ingredients

1. Maida/Refined Flour – 1/2 Cup
2. Rice Flour – 1/2 Cup
3. Sour Curd – 1/2 Cup
4. Green Chillies – 4-5
5. Jeera/Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp
6. Red Chilli Powder – 1/2 tsp
7. Salt – 1 tsp
8. Water – a little
9. Oil for deep frying – 1 Cup

Method

1. Sieve together salt, red chilly powder, maida, and rice flour.
2. Cut green chillies into small pieces and pound together with jeera till they are crushed.
3. Add sour curd and green chilly-jeera mix to the flour and mix well.
4. Add just enough water till the batter is of dropping consistency.
5. In a small kadai, heat oil (about a cup) till it is hot but not smoking.
6. With your hand or a teaspoon, drop small quantities of batter into the oil.
7. Fry till golden brown.
8. Serve hot by itself or with Coconut Chutney.

Tips:

• Each Chitti Boori is the size of a small grape. Do not make them large.
• Sour curd is a must to get light and crispy Chitti Boorelu. If you do not have sour curd, use two or three pinches of Soda Bicarbonate.
• You can also use a maida to rice flour ratio of 70:30 to get softer Chitti Boorelu. My recipe will result in the crispy version.
• If you want the Chitti Boorelu to be spicier, add more pounded green chillies. Adding more red chilly powder will make them hard. 🙁
• Ensure your oil is hot, else you will have an oily, chewy mess on your hands. How do you know your oil is hot enough? Add a pinch of batter to it. It should immediately rise to the top and start frying. If it sinks, the oil is not hot enough.
• Dropping consistency means that the batter just falls off, not oozes, from the spoon or hand.

All this talk of Chitti Boorelu is reminding me of another of my favourites, Poornam Boorelu, the oh-so-delectable Andhra sweet! I know what I am making for Ugadi this year. 🙂