Breakfast · Nashto
Chantaro – Tikho
Spicy red rice flour pancake
The savoury (tikho) counterpart of Chantaro – Mitho: a thick pourable batter of red rice flour and whole wheat flour with green chillies, ginger, coriander, lemon juice and asafoetida, shallow-fried on a tawa in oil into a crisp-edged disc. A popular breakfast.
Ingredients
Make
Measure in
Cups are shown in grams or ml; spoons stay as spoons. Panja Khada’s own weights are used where they give them (1 cup of flour is 150 g, rice or dal 200 g, curd 225 g, milk or water 240 ml), and standard kitchen weights otherwise.
For the batter
For cooking
Method
Tap a number to tick off a step.
Prep. Chop the green chillies, ginger and coriander leaves finely.
Batter. In a toap (bowl), mix the red rice flour, whole wheat flour, salt and asafoetida. Add the ginger, chillies, coriander, lemon juice and oil and combine well. Add water gradually until the batter is thick yet pourable.
Cook. Heat a tawa (griddle) on a medium flame. Pour one kevai (ladleful) of batter and spread it into an even disc. Drizzle oil around the edges to stop it sticking, and cook both sides until golden brown and crisp.
My notes
Your family’s way with this recipe, or a reminder for next time. Kept on this phone or computer, and shown in cook mode.
Tips and variations
Chef's tip: keep the batter slightly thick rather than thin, so the pancake holds its shape and the edges crisp up.
Mint Chantaro
Replace part or all of the coriander with fresh mint leaves.
Vegetable Chantaro
Add finely grated carrot, bottle gourd or zucchini to the batter.
Extra-Spicy Chantaro
Use more green chillies and add a pinch of red chilli powder.
Serve with
Serve hot, straight off the tawa, with Dharan ji chutney or any homemade chutney. A family breakfast dish.
Recipes mentioned here
Nutrition
EstimatedPer pancake
370 kcal
- Protein
- 5 g
- Carbohydrate
- 41 g
- Fat
- 21 g
The recipe makes 6–8 pancakes.
Whole recipe
2,560 kcal
- Protein
- 32 g
- Carbohydrate
- 289 g
- Fat
- 146 g
Everything in the ingredients list.
These are estimates, worked out from the amounts in the recipe and typical values for each ingredient. Portion sizes and the exact amount of oil, ghee or sugar can change them a lot. How we estimate
Good to know
Storage
Best fresh and hot; the batter can be refrigerated for a few hours.
About this dishDid you know?, Cultural note
Did you know?
The same red rice flour base makes both the sweet (Mitho) and the savoury (Tikho) chantaro.
Cultural note
A traditional Thathai Bhatia breakfast reflecting a taste for simple, wholesome, flavourful food; red rice flour is a staple of Bhatia cooking.
Where this recipe comes from
Recipe from Panja Khada by Bharat and Deepa Chachara.
See the original recipe and photos