Tamil
Murukku
- Duration: 30 minutes
- Serves: 12 to 14 people
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Spice Level: Low
Authenticity Slice
In traditional Tamilian households, making Murukkus is notoriously considered a test of patience, and grandmothers will give you sage advice about never being hasty while preparing this snack. A clever traditional trick is using coconut milk instead of water for kneading the flour. This gives the Murukkus an added twist of flavour.
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Trivia Tadka
Murukku is a crispy fried snack that originated in Tamil Nadu in the 8th century and then quickly became popular throughout India. Known as 'Chakli in Maharashtra, 'Chakri' in Gujarat, and 'Chakralu' in Andhra Pradesh, Murukku is traditionally prepared to celebrate all auspicious occasions. 'Murukku' means 'twisted' in Tamil and in effect defines the snack's jalebi-like shape. The town of Manapparai in Tamil Nadu is particularly well known for its flavourful Murukkus, obviously called the 'Manapparai Murukku'. Though Murukkus come in many varieties, Tamil Brahmin families often serve 'Kai Murukku' to mark special occasions.
Ingredients
- Rice (raw) (1 kg)
- Black gram (urad dal), de-skinned (2 cups)
- White sesame seeds (safed til) (2 tsp)
- Cumin seeds (jeera) (2 tsp)
- Asafoetida (hing) (1 tsp)
- Clarified butter (ghee) (75 gm)
- Salt (2½ tsp)
- Cooking oil (½ litre)
- Coconut milk or water (4½ cups, for kneading the dough)
Method
- Wash the raw rice thoroughly and soak it in water for an hour.
- Then, drain the water and pat the rice grains dry with a clean cloth.
- After the grains have dried, toss them into a mixer-grinder, and work them into a smooth powder. Run this powder through a sieve and set aside the fine flour.
- Heat a pan on a high flame and dry-roast the urad dal till it turns pink.
- Now, grind this dal into a fine powder in the mixer-grinder. Sift using a sieve and set the fine urad dal powder aside.
- Dissolve the hing in 2 tablespoons of water and keep aside.
- In a Paraat (big, flat plate with shallow edges), mix the rice powder and dal powder together along with salt, safed til, jeera, ghee and the hing water.
- Knead this mix into a smooth dough using either coconut milk (preferred) or water. Make sure that no lumps form in the dough.
- Take a small ball of the dough and place it in the Murukku-maker (easily available in stores across India). Squeeze and push the lever down, moving the Murukku-maker in concentric circles to form small Murukku-shaped dough pieces.
- Make 5 or 6 of these at a time and place them on a plate covered with a moist cloth.
- Heat the oil in a kadhai over high flame and carefully plop in these Murukkus, one at a time.
- Lower the flame to a medium and deep-fry the Murukkus till they turn golden brown.
- Transfer the Murukkus onto a kitchen tissue to drain out any excess oil.
- Allow them to cool and then store in an airtight container.
- Serve the Murukkus with hot filter coffee.
