Chirote

Chirote, or chiroti, is a fried sweet whose thin layers of dough open like petals. It is popular in Maharashtra, Karnataka and other regions, and some versions are dusted with powdered sugar while others are served with sweet milk. Concentric layers and fine ruffles can be seen in the flat, round sweet.

Chirote arranged on a plate. Photo: Kashmira3091, 2020, India. Reduced-size version from the source; content unchanged after retrieval (Source / CC BY-SA 4.0).

Flour and fat between the layers

Some doughs use maida, a refined wheat flour, and others use fine semolina. Semolina is wheat ground into coarse granules, and a fine type is chosen for chiroti. Liquid is added, the dough is kneaded, and it is left to rest so the granules absorb water before it is rolled out thin.

A paste of rice flour mixed with ghee or another fat is spread between the sheets of dough. When thin sheets are stacked, rolled up, sliced into rounds and lightly rolled out, the spiral visible in each cut surface becomes the layers that open during frying. How many sheets are stacked and which flour is used between them vary from maker to maker. Some methods spread a mixture of ghee and cornstarch between the layers. One maker who learned from her grandmother in a Maharashtrian home stacks 4 or more thinly rolled sheets, spreads ghee and rice flour between them, and then rolls them up. The fat spread between the sheets keeps them from sticking together and helps the layers separate during frying.

Hot oil is also poured over the top

When frying, one method does more than place the dough in the oil: hot oil is also poured over the top to make the layers open. Because the shape changes as the layers lift, the dough is handled without being pressed down hard, letting the oil run through it.

The thin, separated layers are light, but the thicker center must also be cooked through. To cook each piece through to the center while keeping the outer layers light, the temperature of the frying oil is adjusted to suit how it was rolled and how thickly it was cut.

Served with almond milk

In Karnataka, fried chiroti is sometimes broken up on the plate and eaten with powdered sugar and badam milk. Badam milk is a sweet milk made with almonds, and it seeps between the thin layers. The sweet changes at the table, from a dry texture to one that softens and comes apart as it absorbs the milk.

Chiroti and almond milk in Bengaluru. Photo: Gpkp, 2026. Reduced-size version from the source; content unchanged after retrieval (Source / CC BY-SA 4.0).

It is also made for large celebrations such as weddings. Cook Gayathri Kumar, who remembers chiroti and almond milk being served at a wedding in Mysore, finishes her homemade chiroti by dipping the freshly fried dough in sugar syrup. Versions dusted with powdered sugar are enjoyed for the crispness of their dry layers, while syrup-soaked versions release sweet syrup when bitten.

In Maharashtra, chirote sometimes appear on Diwali sweets platters.

A Diwali sweets platter including chirote. Photo: Kashmira3091, 2020; location unknown. Reduced-size version from the source with an edit history on the photographer’s side (Source / CC BY-SA 4.0).

Glossary