Jowar chakli is nutritionally beneficial

Chakli made from sorghum-finger millet has good nutritional quality where it was found to be rich in protein and mineral content according to a study published in the International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences. Chakli is a traditional food of India and cereal based chaklis are made only by a few people as gram and rice is very popular.

A fried snack the nutritional value of cereal based chakli was important to evaluate to make it a popular product for the people to consume. Scientist S D Patekar explained, “The physio-chemical and nutritional composition of sorghum variety maldani (M35-1) was found best among other genotypes with forty percent incorporation with malted finger millet.” The standardization of its recipe and its nutritional composition found that protein content ranged from 11.20 to 14,75 per cent. Fat content from 26,49 to 30.13 per cent and mineral composition of chakli like calcium content was 322.30, phosphorus was 144.05 and iron was 1.93 mg. After storage period of 30 days it was found that the nutritional value of chakli was intact and it was a balanced snack for people to consume. Storage was done in aluminium foil, polypropylene and low density polyethylene pouches for one month.

Scientist D R More explained, “Sorghum is a major cereal crop consumed in the country after rice and wheat. It is commonly called as jowar or great millet and its nutritional values show that it’s consumption in the form of snacks are equally beneficial.”

Preparation is as follows:

Cereal + pulse mixture (Sorghum-finger millet flour, rice flour, Bengal, green, black gram), Salt, cumin seeds, oil and asafoetida were mixed to develop a firm dough using warm water. The dough was allowed to rest for some time after that dough is filled in the Chakli presser. Chakli were shaped and fried in hot oil on slow flame. After frying chakli was allowed to cool down and kept in air tight containers. It was evaluated after 10, 15 and 30 days. The shelf-life of 30 days was considered appropriate.