Murukku : Savory and Crunchy Twists Made From Rice Flour

Murukku, meaning crunchy twists in Tamil, is one of the favorite snack food in South India. These deep fried crunchy twists are made from raw rice flour with little bit of black gram flour and added spices to make it savory.

This step-by-step instructable will take you through the steps involved in making Murukku.

The main ingredient is the ready-made Murukku flour. You can get this flour in any Asian shops. Otherwise you can make the flour yourself from raw rice mixed with about one-tenth quantity of lightly fried black gram.

You will also need about half a liter of any cooking oil for deep frying. Here I have used refined Rice Bran oil.

Ingredients required to make Murukku dough

• About two cups of Murukku flour
• Salt to taste
• One tablespoon of Fennel seed powder
• One tablespoon of Cumin seed powder
• A pinch of Asafoetida powder
• One tablespoon of Red chili powder (you can add to your own taste)
• One tablespoon of melted butter
• Warm water for making dough

• Take two cups of Murukku flour in a container
• Add salt to taste
• Add all other ingredients as mentioned in Step-2, including melted butter
• Mix well

• Lightly heat water to a warm temperature in a container
• Add little amount of warm water to the Murukku flour and mix with hand
• The consistency of the dough should be as of molding clay

Murukku making press consists of a cylindrical container in which the dough is filled. The press comes with molds of different shaped holes through which the dough is pressed down to that shape. A hand press helps in pressing down the dough through the bottom mold to the required shape.

You can select any shape you like to make murukku. Here I have selected a single holed - star shaped mold.

Fix the mold at the bottom of the press and fill with murukku dough. Close the dough-filled cylindrical part with the hand press.

Heat about half a liter of cooking oil in a pan

The Murukku can be pressed down directly in the hot oil or on the backside of the strainer and then dropped into the hot oil. Here I have used the backside of the strainer to get the perfect shape.

• Using the hand press, make murukku shapes on the backside of the strainer
• Lower the strainer with the murukku dough into hot oil
• You can gently release the shaped murukku from the strainer into the oil
• You can fry about three to four numbers at a time
• Using the strainer, turn over the murukku in hot oil, so that they are evenly fried
• When the murukku turns golden brown, remove from the pan and drain out excess oil
• Transfer the murukku to a kitchen tissue paper, which will absorb the excess oil

The savory murukku can be stored for months in air-tight containers

Serve the deep fried murukku with hot coffee and chase away the cold