CHEGODILU

Chegodilu is a popular evening snack from Andhra. Almost every sweet shop in South India sells this snack. It is fun watching children keeping these chegodilu on all their fingers as finger rings. As these are made with rice flour and some times with maida, they are good for health. These crunchy  snacks has a irresistible taste and you can keep on munching one after another, at least a thirty at a time. Moong dal or sesame seeds or cumin seeds are added for an extra flavor and taste. 
INGREDIENTS

• Rice flour                          2 cups
• Water                               1 cup
• Red chilly powder             1/2 tsp
• Salt                                   to taste
• Ajwain/til seeds/jeera     1Tsp
• Mong dal                            2 Tsp
• Oil                                     for deep frying
• Turmeric                           a pinch
• Ghee                                 2 Tsp

PROCEDURE
Boil water in a large pan.  If you are using moong dal soak dal for 1 hour and use it.  In the boiled water add ajwain or til seeds or moong dal. Add the salt, turmeric, chilly powder and 2 table spoons of ghee. Now switch off the flame and slowly add the rice flour by mixing simultaneously. Form a dough as the chapathi dough. Leave the dough for 15 minutes. The amount of flour to water ratio vary depending on the absorption capacity of the flour. Adjust the flour accordingly to form a stiff yet soft dough.

Now grease your palms with some oil and take a small portion of dough and form it into a string. You can do it on a flat clean surface. Now join the edges of the string  to form a round.

After making all the rounds deep fry the chegodilu on a medium flame. Fry them in small batches so that all of them fry evenly and attain same color.

TIPS

• Ajwain or til or jeera or moong dal, any one or a combination of any two ingredients can be used depending on your taste.
• Using ghee while mixing the dough enhances the taste.
• Keep the chegodilu a little bit thicker while rolling as they shrink after frying.