Murukku is one of the must have snacks during festival seasons and holidays. Murukku has many varieties and many names. One popular Murukku is the Thenkuzhal Murukku. It needs just Rice Flour, Urad Dal Flour, Butter, Cumin seeds, Hing and Salt. If you make this Murukku as detailed here, you will not need paper napkin or towel to absorb excess oil as it will come out perfect and oil free!
Ingredients:
Rice Flour – 2 cups
Urad Dal – ½ cup
Cumin Seeds – 1 tbsp
Sesame Seeds – 1 tbsp
Salt – to suit taste
Asafoetida – ¼ tsp
Butter – 2 tbsp (heaped)
Oil – for deep frying
Method:
Dry roast the Urad Dal in low to medium flame till the color of the changes a little and the Dal starts releasing a good aroma. It takes around 3 to 4 minutes for this process. Transfer the Dal to a deep plate or vessel and allow it to cool. Grind the Dal into a fine powder. Sieve it a fine sieve and collect the fine powder.
Take the Rice Flour, Urad Dal Powder, Cumin Seeds, Sesame Seeds, Salt and Asafoetida in a mixing bowl. Combine all of them well. You can add Salt, if required.
Add Butter and mix. Add water little by little and mix into a pliable soft dough. Make round cylindrical shapes of this dough which can enter the Murukku press.
Heat the Oil in pan for deep frying. Let the Oil become hot. In the meanwhile fill the Murukku Press with the cylindrical shaped dough. Press it slowly in circular motion to make the Murukkus. (Press them onto a greased plate or food quality plastic sheets.)
Slide these Murukkus gently into the Oil. Fry them now in medium heat till they become light golden brown. Take them out with a ladle and transfer to a plate.
Follow the same process till all the dough is exhausted.
Store the Murukkus in an air tight container and enjoy eating for a couple of weeks.
Note:
Always fry a single piece first to check whether the Thenkuzhal Murukku has come out crispy. If you break the piece, you will find a tubular hole running through the entire Murukku. It means that the Murukku is crispy and soft for eating.
To check the heat of the Oil, drop a small piece of dough in hot oil. If it comes to the top of Oil immediately, the Oil is just hot enough for frying the Murukku.
When you press the dough in the Murukku press, it should not be too hard or tough to press the dough out into a nice Murukku. Also, there should not be cracks in the string which comes out of the press. If there are cracks, add little more water to the dough and mix well once again.
Keep the dough covered with a damp cloth or lid always.
Make the second set of Murukkus only after dropping the first set into the Oil for frying.
Ensure that the Oil becomes hot after removing a set of Murukku from it. Use high flame to heat the Oil and fry the Murukku in low flame.
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