Murukku

Murukku (Tamil: முறுக்கு) is a South Indian snack of savory crunchy twists made from rice and urad dal flour.^[1] Murukku means twisted in the Tamil language.^[2] The town of Manapparai in Tamil Nadu is particularly known for its murukku.^[3] Murukku is made in many varieties as a traditional treat for festivals such as Diwali and Krishna Janmashtami.^[4] Murukku are often served on special occasions in Tamil Brahmin families, but at my home we make murukku round the year. 


Murukku is also known as chakali; Kannada: ಚಕ್ಲಿ chakli; Gujarati: ચકરી chakri; Marathi: चकली ; Telugu: మురుకులు murukulu, చక్రాలు chakralu, or జంతికలు jantikalu,Konkani: Chakri or Chakkuli. Its Malay name is akar kelapa.

Murukku is made of rice flour, udad flour, water, butter and seasoned with salt, paprika, sesame seed and cumin seed. There are many varieties of murukku, the key ingredient is Rice flour and adding of gram flour is optional.

Preparation time : 20 mins
Cooking time : 20 mins
Serves : 10

Ingredients :
2 cup of rice flour
1/4 cup of udad flour
1 tbsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp sesame seed/ til
1/2 tbsp cumin powder
salt to taste
1/8 cup / 3 tbsp ghee
1 cup warm water
Oil for frying

Method:

1. Sieve both flours separately.
2. Dry roast udad flour in a pan without changing colour.
3. Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Rub in ghee to get sand like texture.
4. Add in warm water little by little to make chappati dough. Not too soft nor stiff.
5. Use murukku press with a star disc.
6. Make a log of 3'' diameter and put inside the greased mould.
7. Make murukku on plastic sheet. As you press you will see dough coming out shaped on star like noodle. Slightly rotate the maker to make a cricle.
8. You can make as ,any spiral you want. More the spiral bigger the murukku. I personally make bite sized murukku.
9. Heat oil in a pan, when hot slide in murukku and fry on one side for 3 mins.
10. Turn on the murukku and when bubbles subside, pink in colour means murukku is ready to remove.
11. Drain on kitchen paper to remove excess oil.
12. Serve with hot tea or coffee.