Chegodilu /Chekodilu (Kola vadai) recipe
When Valli announced this month's challenge for ICC, I was ECSTATIC! The making of it sounded and in fact looked exactly like my childhood favorite which in Tamil is known by 'Kola Vadai'. There was this fav. restaurant in Chennai where they used to sell packets of these and we used to literally splurge! Of all the things to splurge on ;). Now don't ask me why in God's name something which does not taste anything like Vadai per se, is called similarly! I have no idea - may be cos it resembles slightly like one! Anyone who knows about the reason/origin for the name, kindly lemme know.
Chegodilu /Chekodilu (Kola vadai) recipe
Anyways, I got to know that this is called as "Chegodilu", "Chekodilu/ Chekodi" in Andhra and is pretty famous snack - rightfully so, I might add. The minute you put one in your mouth, the next few seconds are followed by "Crunch","munch","crunch","crunch" and "gulp". That's how crispy they are!!! Valli had given us two recipes and we could choose any of them. I chose the one which I felt was closer to the one I have tasted and it sure was - almost. During the making of it, I made few observations and that which I have given by way of my notes below each of the steps (wherever applicable). You might also like : Cashew Kunukku, Wheat Diamond Biscuits, Murukku (chakli), Thattai, Uppu seedai, Vadai
  • Cook time:
  • Prep time:
  • Yields: Makes around 60-70 depending on the size and thickness
Ingredients
  • 1 cup Rice Flour
  • 1 cup Water
  • 1-1/2 to 2 tbsp Split Yellow Moong dal / Pesara pappu / Mung Dal / Pasiparuppu
  • 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
  • 1 tsp - Sesame Seeds
  • 1 tsp Chili powder
  • 1 tbsp Ghee or oil
  • Salt to taste
  • Oil for deep frying
Method
1.

Soak moong dal in water for half hour to 1 hour.

My Notes :

I used 2 tbsp and personally found it to be too much. I just wanted my Chekodis (or Ring Murukku ) to have hints or should I say sprinkling of yellow lentils. Using 2 tbsp was bit too much for that purpose. Next time I will use only 1 tbsp.

2. In a deep bottom pan, boil water, then add salt, ghee and moong dal.
3. Bring it to boil, simmer and slowly add the rice flour. Using a rolling pin or the ladle, mix the flour with water by stirring it well. When the flour is mixed and done, turn off the heat immediately. Cover with lid and keep aside for 10 to 15 mins.
4. Once the dough is cool, add chilli powder, sesame seeds, cumin seeds and mix well. Knead till you get a smooth dough. Adjust the salt and spice depending on your preference.
5.

Heat a pan with oil, enough to fry 3 -4 at time, if you conscious of not using too much oil. Simmer once it gets hot. The temperature should not be smoking hot. Grease your fingers with oil and pinch out a small lemon size ball and roll between your palms to form a thick rope.

My Notes :

This is were I faced my first challenge. My ropes were pretty fragile (not falling apart as such) but the ends broke quite easily. I realized it could be because I was using Store bought Rice flour instead of the traditional way of grinding them at home! sigh!.  I dunno the science behind this tip, but I simply added few tsps of the hot oil (which I was going to use for frying) to my dough and kneaded them some more.  After that, I did not face an issue.

6.

Bring the two ends to together and press to form a rope. Ensure the ends are firmly pressed as not to give out during frying.

My Notes:

The size and shape of these do not really matter that much. I remember the ones that I have enjoyed had very small holes in the middle. Hence chose to make half of the dough that way.

7.

My Notes: But I saw from Google Images that many pictures depicted a bigger and a thinner round for Chekodi.  Hence felt that may be they were traditionally made that way in Andhra - So made the other half of the dough aping the real version. Just roll out a thinner and longer rope and bring the ends together to make a bigger  ring murukkus.

8. Continue with the rest of the dough until you are done with the entire batch. You can either cover it with a plate or a cloth to prevent the dough from getting dried. Check if the oil is in the correct temperature, by dropping a tiny bit into the oil. Then gently slide the rings or the chakodis in batches of 4 -5. The flame has to be on high until the chakodis come up to the surface,
9. then lower the flame to medium
10.

and cook till you get a golden colour on the chakodis.

My Notes:

If you notice from this picture below, the surface of my chekodi don't look that smooth. They were very crunchy yes and tastewise perfect. But as far as the looks department go, they did not have a smooth surface. I think this could be because of the store bought rice flour. But after I followed the tip I provided before - that is kneaded the dough for few more minutes with hot oil, it became smooth

11. My Notes: See - this picture below has a smoother surface than above
12. When the chakodis are golden all over, using a slotted ladle, remove to a kitchen towel and cool. The picture below shows the ones Done and the Undone ;)
Store in an air tight container for longer shelf life. My Notes : See the bowl below - it clearly shows that there were too much of the lentils. You can use it of course, if you dont mind the appearance. For me, I would use 1 tbsp next time. Oh yes - I am making them again of course! :) Chegodilu /Chekodilu (Kola vadai) recipe Notes: Remember to turn the heat to medium to high and high to medium for getting the chakodis to golden colour and also to be cooked evenly. Only this way you get crispy chakodis. These should not be cooked on low flame as they will absorb more oil and can turn soggy also at times. Variation: Instead of Cumin and Sesame seeds, 1 tsp of Ajwain (Oregano) or Omam can be used along with chili powder. Chegodilu /Chekodilu (Kola vadai) recipe

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4 Member Reviews

By Savitha on Sep 13, 2012

Well my mom Used to prepare these whenever Possible!!! But now it's my turn to Treat her with Something easy and Simple.... I Thank you very much for this wonderful Recipes and with such A Step By Step Demo Photos!!!!

It was Truely Amazing and Easy-Fast-Simple-TASTY too. everyone Must Try this..

Thank you DK...

Regards

SaKG

Recipe Image

By Ranjana on Nov 25, 2010

Thanks again DK...These turned out to be perfect. Somehow I couldn't form perfect rings and I didn't have the patience to make so many rings...so I made them as "Fried Rice Flour Fingers"!

Read All 4 Reviews →

28 Comments

By Kavi on Nov 26, 2016

Awesome really useful

By jhansi on Jan 17, 2014

ur recepies r good....appreciated for ur work.... if u dont mind som r asking u questions so plz reply them ....this is my opinion....it improves u hard work.....u r replying only for those u praise u......

I apologise. In fact I do reply to many queries. I might miss some given I get loads of queries each day and not just on one post. --DK

By Lalitha on Sep 28, 2013

:mrgreen: :lol: it came out very nicely. But takes long hours to pre pare.this. Is andhra style.can you send karnataka style recipe? It will be thicker & faster to make

By rajeswari on Sep 12, 2013

hi, i tried this recipe. i followed your measurements and tips what you mention the above. but my chegodilu has not cripsy. then can u suggest how fry. Inner part of the chegodilu has softer . can you suggest what is my fault?

By Geetha on Aug 10, 2012

Hi, I tried this recipe for Gokulashtami, but somehow the dough was sticky sticky and took a long time to roll the rings and the thick rings were soft when fried. So I had to roll it out into really thin ones for them to be crispy. Any tips so that I can improve?? Finally I lost patience and made it into thattai, which everyone loved..

By Paramita Brahmachari on Aug 7, 2012

Thanks Chef in you . Ur site is heaven for me . I luv cooking . As usual I made lots of varieties tasty dishes . I always follow whatever u made . I attached few pic of some my creation on Facebook . Album named "Something special from my kitchen" .Thank u again :)

Thank you so much Paramita. I am so glad to hear that. Do share your album in chefinyou facebook page. Wud luv to see ur photos there :) --DK

By lata on Feb 12, 2012

hi, i tried couple of times but not your recipe. i used 1 cup boiling water and 1 cup rice flour. i do not know what is wrong, my chegodilu pagili oil anta spill ayinadi. meeku emina teliste cheppandi , ela cheyalo. thanks.

By Suganya on Jan 19, 2012

I have doubt after adding moong dal should I cook them until tender or I can add rice flour early than that...

By Rama Ananth on Oct 24, 2011

I have been making Kodubales for years. This recipe was given to me by my sister, who must have got it from someone. Anyway it very easy. It is 1 cup of rava,1 cup, rice flour and 1 cup of maida, add some seaame seeds. Grind in the mixie a little bit of coconut, green chillies, curry leaves and coriander leaves some Hing. Mix it with the flour mixture, add salt to taste(usually salt is added less in these kind of snacks), and add some butter/ ghee and make it into a smooth dough with water. Then make bales and keep them covered in between sheets of newspaper. The bales come very easily , no mess here. Heat oil and once it is hot it should be kept in simmer only all the time, and one must wait patiently for the kodbales to turn golden. if one hurries and do it in high it will be uncooked inside. It should be cooked just like Samosas, always in simmer. You can leave it and do some other work while it is coking coming often to turn it so that both sides are evenly cooked. It would taste wonderful. Happy Deepawali!!

By Krithika on Mar 17, 2011

Hi, thx for this recipe. made this today. though the taste was gud , the insides were a little soft. i made rice flour at home. my flour was a little coarse. could that have caused the softness? i tried baking a batch, and surprisingly that turned out a lot crispier. Thanks anyway. Just love ur site. :)

By Rashmi on Mar 8, 2011

HI, Those pics look amazing. Its a Karnataka dish which is called Kodbale :) I make it from buttermilk as well which tastes yumm. U can even try by replacing water from sour buttermilk.

By Vijaya on Oct 31, 2010

Hi, Loved it and am going to make it for Deepavali, one quick question, when you say home made flour do you mean dry rice powder or should I soak the rice and then make a powder of that...

They make the powder by soaking, drying and then powdering it. I mostly use store bought and it works fine for me

By pragya on Jul 18, 2010

its reallt nice to eat my 4 yr son loved it he is fond of eating kurkure so i didn't make a ring & he loved it but something i did wronge b'coz 4to 5 hrs of after storing it became soft & oil came out.

By Vidya on Feb 19, 2010

Thanx..... Tried the reciepe.turned out well but just a bit soggy...i took 1 and a half tbsp of moong dal.shud i reduce the qty of moong dal?

I dont think the sogginess could have been due to moong dal per se. 1-1/2 tbsp should have been good ! I think it could be due to the water and rice flour. Sometimes the quality of the flour differs from place to place. Probably it got a little more for you..Home made rice flour works best for this recipe --DK

By Carsten on Jan 26, 2010

Hi, I just followed you on Twitter. Your blog is really great and I wanted to invite you to join our food & wine socialnetwork @ http://www.tasteandshare.com. If you sign up you can share links, rss feeds and photos from your own blog. :wink: Thanks, Carsten

By damaris on Jan 21, 2010

this looks soooo good. I just e-mailed it to my friend. her daughters have wheat allergies. they'll love this

By Shreya on Dec 19, 2009

:-P

By Srivalli on Dec 16, 2009

Looks perfect!..so these are indeed your Kola Vadai??

They tasted almost the same - I think this is it Valli! Yehhh!!! :-D -- DK

By Alka on Dec 15, 2009

Now this is the most unfair way to tempt people and you are pretty good at this.Anything savory and crispy leaves me craving for it.And this looks too good to ignore.

And look who is talking about tempting ppl!!! Everyone take a gander at her site and tell me if she is share the blame for being a 'tempt'ress! (if thats even a word!!!!) ;) -- DK

By Preeti on Dec 15, 2009

Just perfect :-|

By Medhaa on Dec 15, 2009

hey, they look pretty good. My stove does not have the numbers, but I did have one with the numbers. Did u use them on the big element or small. I think 6 the the middle and 8 is 2 knotches towards high. thanks I shall try it the next time once I know the element

Thanks Medhaa :) I used the small element - My vessel was not that big! I usually use the large elements when I use my skillets which are quite larger than my large element.... --DK

By Pavani on Dec 15, 2009

They look perfect DK.

By Ambika on Dec 15, 2009

Hey DK, your chakodis look awesome!! Actually you know what, the chakodis that you buy in Hyderabad do not have a smooth surface!! I was wondering why I did not get that texture, thanks for the tip :wink:, I shall knead mine for a lesser time the next time :-D

By Cham on Dec 15, 2009

OMG- The blogosphere is tempting me to make this ring murruku! Seems u ve done with ease DK! Perfect!

By Radhika Vasanth on Dec 15, 2009

Looks beautiful DK.. Crisp and smooth(thanks for the tip)

By Doli on Dec 15, 2009

Looks so yummy!! Please send some to me :-P

By Lata Raja on Dec 15, 2009

These have perfectly turned out. Yes I will make them again too.

By Priya on Dec 15, 2009

Omg, urs looks tremendous DK...looks prefect and too crispy..i have announced AWED-portuguese just now in my blog, do check and let me if anything to correct..here is the link:http://priyaeasyntastyrecipes.blogspot.com/2009/12/announcing-awed-portuguese.html