Murukku

[mukki]

A few years ago, my roommate's mom brought a large container of homemade murukku when she came to visit. I'd never had murukku before, but was instantly hooked: her version was crunchy, light and nicely spiced. I'd sneak into the kitchen at night just to dip into that container. I've tried since then to locate a similar version in local Indian snack shops, but they've all been hard without any spices. My roommate promised me her mom's recipe, but, alas, I never got hold of it.

Since then, I've printed out many recipes off the internet, but I have no idea which will make a similar version. I'm thinking that perhaps it had butter in it, since it was light, not heavy. It also must have had red pepper in it, since it was spicy.

Can anyone help with locating a delicious, spiced murukku recipe? I picked up a mix that just contains various flours/ground beans in it, so I could possibly add butter, water and various spices and try that.

Hilary

[Milagai]

A few years ago, my roommate's mom brought a large container of homemade murukku when she came to visit. I'd never had murukku before, but was instantly hooked: her version was crunchy, light and nicely spiced. I'd sneak into the kitchen at night just to dip into that container. I've tried since then to locate a similar version in local Indian snack shops, but they've all been hard without any  spices. My roommate promised me her mom's recipe, but, alas, I never got hold of it.

Since then, I've printed out many recipes off the internet, but I have no idea which will make a similar version. I'm thinking that perhaps it had butter in it, since it was light, not heavy. It also must have had red pepper in it, since it was spicy.

Can anyone help with locating a delicious, spiced murukku recipe? I picked up a mix that just contains various flours/ground beans in it, so I could possibly add butter, water and various spices and try that.

Hilary

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can't be butter; so probably extra ghee.

also some degree of fermentation in the batter?

you can add any spices you like: red pepper, black peppercorns;

curry leaves, etc.

[rajsuman]

It COULD be butter, because I've seen it being added and I don't think they ferment the dough. I'll see if I can get my MIL to send me her recipe - hers are pretty good.

Edited June 19, 2005 by rajsuman (log)

[mukki]

It COULD be butter, because I've seen it being added and I don't think they ferment the dough. I'll see if I can get my MIL to send me her recipe - hers are pretty good.

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Thanks -- I would appreciate it! I mentioned butter since many of the recipes I've seen do have a few tablespoons mixed in.

[Episure]

This is murukku from a store and the ingredients listed are rice, urad dal, black sesame seeds, sesame oil, asafoetida and chilli powder. There are hundreds of variants and the one you tasted probably had butter, an ingredient that never fails.

I would still wait for rajsuman's MIL's recipe.

[rajsuman]

Hello Mukki,

I managed to get the recipe from my MIL. My children love her murukkus and it's been on my to-do list for a long time. They are not available in the Indian shops here, so my only resort is to make them at home. I thought this was the perfect opportunity to make them and then relate my experience to you. So here goes:

The recipe is simple, so I thought it would be a breeze to make. I could almost taste my MIL's superb murukkus even before I measured out the ingredients. I'll give you the recipe below, but I have to say that unfortunately mine turned out nothing like hers. I can only put it down to mistakes on my part, as this is the first time I've tried my hand at murukku-making. When I told my friend this story, she dispelled my notion that murukkus were easy to make. Please don't think I'm trying to discourage you, but it's better you know all the facts before you embark on this. Who knows, if you do decide to try this, yours might come out better than mine.

1 cup* urad dal, roasted

1 cup white raw rice

1 tsp jeera

salt and chilli powder to taste

a knob of butter**, softened

Grind the urad dal, rice, jeera, salt and chilli powder very finely. Sieve to remove any bigger bits. Add the butter, combine with fingers and add water to make a dough***. Fill a murukku mould with the dough and extrude dough into hot oil. Deep-fry on medium heat until crisp and reddish-brown. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Possible causes of errors:

* Her cup may be a different volume- mine is the std. 250 ml.

**She said to add about the size of an Indian lime, I added about 20g.

***Not sure about the consistency of the dough. I imagine it should be pretty stiff, but that was very hard to extrude. SO I took the easy route and made a softer dough. As a result, it turned out oilier than my MIL's. Probably also affected the texture of the end product.

The next time I visit India, I'm going to observe my MIL making murukkus and take detailed notes. In the meantime this recipe looks promising, although it's not great on the details.

[tryska]

This is murukku from a store and the ingredients listed are rice, urad dal, black sesame seeds, sesame oil, asafoetida and chilli powder. There are hundreds of variants and the one you tasted probably had butter, an ingredient that never fails.

I would still wait for rajsuman's MIL's recipe.  

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which brand is that Episure?

Looks like the kind i always buy, except the package calls it chakli.

murukku is one of my favorite foods too. and this brand isn't bad. can't for the life of me remember the brand tho - white, red and blue package.

[anzu]

Her cup may be a different volume- mine is the std. 250 ml.

I am relatively sure that in India, a 'cup' refers to 200 ml, and not to 250.

This is true for most of Asia, in fact. (Asia being referred to here in the broadest possible sense.) So any recipe from anywhere between (pretty much) Turkey and Japan that calls for a cup is usually referring to 200 ml.

Unless, of course, they are actually referring to some other physical type of cup that they have in their own home.That is often the case. Similarly, I was given a lot of recipes in one place with all the quantities given in katoris (small metal bowl), and had to go out and buy a katori in that town so that I could use it as a reference when i got home.

I can't help with the actual murukku making, though. Mine have always failed miserably.

My SIL makes them fine, but the recipe is very different from yours. She steams the rice and urad flour first, then makes the dough, forms them on wax paper first so they have the right shape, and then fries them.

When I followed that recipe, I still ended up with a horrible failure.

Do keep us posted though, when you have seen how your MIL does it. Maybe success will someday be mine/ours.

[Episure]

This is murukku from a store and the ingredients listed are rice, urad dal, black sesame seeds, sesame oil, asafoetida and chilli powder. There are hundreds of variants and the one you tasted probably had butter, an ingredient that never fails.

I would still wait for rajsuman's MIL's recipe.  

which brand is that Episure?

Looks like the kind i always buy, except the package calls it chakli.

murukku is one of my favorite foods too. and this brand isn't bad. can't for the life of me remember the brand tho - white, red and blue package.

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Tryska,

I think Chakli is Kannada and Murukku is Tamil for these extruded snacks which may be flat also. I used to think that chakli refers to the round shape but I've been told otherwise, perhaps the others here can confirm.

There are hundreds of small shops that make these on a continuous basis and then there are big brands like MTR and Haldiram. I have a SAWA cookie press to fool around with when I deviate from the norms( Rosemary, Mango ginger, Fennel... ) but for the straight cookie cutter( ) varieties I buy from here:

[AmyDaniel]

Back in my hometown (in NY), we have family friends from Madras who'll occasionally make us homemade murukku, or who'll bring it back from India. Huge Ziploc bags full of it; we'll tear through them in a day or two. I've not seen the stuff manufactured by big companies (like MTR), but then again I haven't looked.

There are hundreds of small shops that make these on a continuous basis and then there are big brands like MTR and Haldiram. I have a SAWA cookie press to fool around with when I deviate from the norms( Rosemary, Mango ginger, Fennel... )

Mango ginger?

[anzu]

I think Episure is talking about this.

And if so, I'm jealous.

Whenever I'm in Delhi and I try to buy murukku, the seller corrects me, and calls them chakli. If I ask for chakli, I get corrected to murukku... Sigh.

[AmyDaniel]

I think Episure is talking about this.

And if so, I'm jealous. 

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Thanks, anzu; I should try to find it here.

Whenever I'm in Delhi and I try to buy murukku, the seller corrects me, and calls them chakli. If I ask for chakli, I get corrected to murukku... Sigh.

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LOL.