Litti-inspired Sago Filling

Ingredients

• Whole wheat flour – 2 cups
• Ghee or mustard oil – 2 tbsp for dough
• Salt – ½ tsp
• Water – as needed
• Sattu – 1 cup
• Sago – ¼ cup
• Mustard oil – 1 tbsp
• Ajwain – ½ tsp
• Kalonji – ¼ tsp
• Green chilli – 1, chopped
• Ginger – 1 tsp, grated
• Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
• Pickle masala – 1 tbsp, optional
• Salt – as needed
• Melted ghee – for serving

Method

1. Soak the sago in just enough water for about 4 hours until fully soft. Drain very well and lightly crush the pearls.
2. Mix wheat flour, salt and ghee or mustard oil. Add water gradually and knead to a medium-soft dough. Cover and rest 20 to 30 minutes.
3. Combine sattu, drained sago, mustard oil, ajwain, kalonji, chilli, ginger, lemon, optional pickle masala and salt. Sprinkle only enough water to make a moist, crumbly filling; it should not become paste-like.
4. Divide the dough into balls. Shape each into a cup, add 2 to 3 teaspoons filling and seal completely.
5. Arrange on a baking tray and bake at about 200°C, turning as required, until the litti are cooked through with deep brown patches, roughly 25 to 35 minutes depending on size and oven.
6. Break one test litti open: the wheat shell should be cooked through with no raw dough line.
7. Crack the hot litti lightly and brush or dip in melted ghee.
8. Serve with chokha. Traditional Bihari litti uses a sattu filling without sago; this version keeps sattu dominant and adds sago only as a variation.