Video
Recipes
4 Servings
Welcome Diwali 2026 with a jar full of spiral, golden chaklis, made from a spiced rice and lentil flour dough and fried in light King's Soyabean Oil. This crunchy faral favourite keeps well in an airtight container, making it perfect for festive tea-time and for gifting.
This chakli recipe brings together a spiced dough of rice flour, gram flour, and roasted urad dal flour, pressed into crisp spirals and fried until golden. Following a traditional chakli recipe made in Maharashtrian homes, it relies on a few pantry spices like sesame, cumin, and ajwain to deliver that unmistakable crunch. Among the best-loved maharashtrian food recipes and a staple of Indian cuisine, chakli is the first snack to fill the faral platter in every home during Deepawali.
This chakli has a nutty, lightly spicy flavour, with a crisp, crumbly bite and a gentle warmth from chilli, cumin, and ajwain. Typical of Maharashtrian cuisine, the dough is made by working hot oil into the flour, then pressing it through a chakli press into fine spirals that fry evenly to a deep golden colour.
Follow these simple steps to prepare this recipe with balanced flavor and texture.
Steam 1 cup rice flour in a muslin cloth for 10-12 minutes, then cool and break up any lumps.
Mix it with 1/2 cup gram flour (besan) and 1/2 cup roasted urad dal flour.
Add 1 tbsp sesame seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp ajwain, 1 tsp red chilli powder, 1/2 tsp turmeric, a pinch of hing, and salt to taste.
Sift everything together so the spices blend evenly.
A well-mixed flour keeps the dough smooth and the spirals crisp.
Heat 3 tbsp King's Soyabean Oil until just hot and pour it over the flour mix; stir with a spoon.
Add warm water gradually and knead into a soft, smooth dough that is not sticky.
Grease the chakli press, fit the star-shaped disc, and fill it with dough.
Heat King's Soyabean Oil in a kadhai over medium heat for frying.
Drop in a pinch of dough to test; it should rise slowly with steady bubbles.
Press the dough in 3-4 concentric rings onto a greased plate or sheet and join the ends.
Slide 4-5 chaklis gently into the hot oil without crowding the kadhai.
Fry on medium heat for 4-5 minutes, turning once, until the bubbles subside and they turn golden.
Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
Steady heat is what makes this Maharashtrian chakli recipe crunchy all the way through.
Let the chaklis cool completely at room temperature.
Store them in an airtight container once fully cooled.
Serve with hot masala chai during your festive faral gathering.
Add them to the platter alongside chivda, ladoo, and karanji.
Enjoy with family and share a box with friends this Diwali.
The best cooking oil for frying chakli is one that heats evenly, stays light, and does not overpower the sesame, cumin, and ajwain. A good cooking oil like King's Refined Soyabean Oil has a neutral taste that suits deep frying, which is why soyabean refined oil is a dependable choice for evenly golden, crisp chaklis.
While other edible oil options such as groundnut oil or sunflower oil are also used for festive frying, soyabean oil is a popular everyday cooking oil for chakli because its neutral flavour lets the spiced flour take centre stage. Heavier-flavoured oils can overpower the delicate taste of the chakli, whereas soyabean oil keeps the snack clean and crunchy.
