Chakli

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Synthesised from Google · Yelp · Reddit · 3 food blogs · Updated August 2026

The story the reviews tell

Chakli is a spiral-shaped savory snack with a distinctly spiked surface, made from a blend of rice flour, Bengal gram, and black gram. The dough gets pushed through an extruder to create those characteristic coils, then fried until crispy. It's a street-vendor staple across South India and has traveled with Indian diaspora communities to South Africa, where cooks adapted it with maize flour instead of rice, adding cumin and salt for local taste.

What makes this version distinct

Chakli is a savoury Indian snack with a spiral shape and spiked surface. It is also known as chakali, chakri or chakkuli. Chakli is typically made from flours of rice, Bengal gram (brown chickpea) and black gram (urad daal). It has several variations, depending on the types and proportions of flours used. It is also very popular in South Africa, introduced by the Indian diaspora. Maize flour is used instead of rice flour with the addition of salt and cumin as the basic dry ingredients. It is sold by street vendors and at neighborhood shops. Kadboli is a similar dish, which is shaped by hand instead of with an extruder. Murukku is a South Indian snack typically made with rice and black gram flour during Diwali. In Indonesia, murukku and chakli variations are known as akar kelapa and are particularly popular among Betawi.

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