Jantikalu | Chakralu

Jantikalu or Chakralu is a classic South Indian savory snack. In Andhra, no festival or celebration is complete without making a huge pile savory snacks. Jantikalu is queen of South Indian Savory Snack recipes. Crunchy, vegan and delicious jantikalu are my all time favorite munching snack.

About This Recipe

The main ingredient in making jantikalu is flour. Typically, jantikalu are made from Chickpea flour (bengal gram flour), rice flour and urad dal flour (black gram). The combination, variation and ratio of flours and other ingredients vary from recipe to recipe. Every household will have their own variation of making jantikalu.

The recipe of jantikalu, which I am going to share with you today is little different from the authentic recipe. I learnt to make jantikalu from my friend’s mom. She uses urad dal and rice dal flours to make jantikalu.

Jantikalu made with urad dal and rice flour are crunchy, mildly spicy, melts in mouth and addictive. These are easy to make at home and stays good for at least a month.

Andhra Pindi Vantalu

Pindi Vantalu – Pindi means flour and vantalu means recipes. Recipes made with flour, make an integral part of Andhra Cuisine. Till date in Andhra, festivals, weddings and other celebrations start by making pile of sweets and savouries. There are two reasons for making (pindi vantalu) sweets and savories before any big celebration or festival.

1. The shelf life is more. You can easily store these for a month.
2. With lots of people at home, it is always good to have boxes full of munching snacks.

Some of the Andhra’s popular savory treats are Murukku, Chakodi, Chekkalu, Ribbon Pakoda, Karam Kaju Biscuits, Boondi, Atukula Mixture, Omapodi, etc.

In the sweets category, we can find ladoo, ariselu, teepi gavvalu, sunniundalu, jhangri, etc.

My granny and mummy use to make and store at least 2-3 boxes of different varieties of savory snacks just before our winter or summer holidays start. I grew up in a house, where homemade jar snacks are always available.

Main Ingredients For Making Jantikalu

Rice flour – Makes the jantilaku crispy and crunchy. I used milled organic rice flour. Rice flour is easily available in online grocery stores too.

Urad dal flour – I got both urad dal and rice, milled in the shop near to my house. Urad dal flour is easily available in any grocery stores. Use good quality flour only.

Ajwain | Carom seeds – Enhances the flavour and increases the shelf life of jantikalu.

Sesame seeds – Adding sesame seeds is optional. Sesame seeds bring nutty taste in jantikalu.

Red chili powder – Adds spice and heat.

Ghee | Butter | Oil – The choice is yours. But remember to add it hot. Adding hot ghee or butter or oil will help in removing the raw smell from flours. And also acts as a binding agent and makes jantikalu crunchy.

Salt as per taste, Oil for deep frying and Water for kneading.

Recipe Notes:

How To Store Jantikalu?

Upon frying jantikalu, remove them on a kitchen tissue. Once the jantikalu come down to room temperature, transfer these to a clean and dry moisture free air tight container.

I prefer using stainless steel or glass containers to store savory snacks.

Whenever I am making snacks, I divide them in 2-3 small boxes and store them. We eat from one box and store remaining in a clean and dry place. Doing this will help in keeping the snacks fresh for long. Always use clean and dry spoon to take snacks from box. Close the lid properly to keep the snacks fresh and crunchy.

How to Make Crunchy Chakralu | Jantikalu?

The ratio of flours and water plays an important role in getting perfect chakralu. Sieve the flours for 2-3 times. Then add hot oil or butter or ghee. I prefer using ghee, as ghee brings nice aroma and taste in chakralu.

Gently mix in ghee with the flour using your fingers. Be careful, as the ghee is hot, you may burn your fingers. The mixture after mixing ghee should look like breadcrumbs. This is the secret of making crunchy chakralu. Now add rest of the ingredients and slowly spoon by spoon add water and make a soft and thick dough.