Murrukku

I am craving murukkus! And when the craving hits me I need to succumb to it. If I were back home in India it would be a simple matter of either getting our reliable maid to buy some for me or for me to take a walk to the shops and choose from a variety of snacks and murukkus that the local sweetmeat shop has on sale!

There's a lot to be said for indigenous foods in each country; and I have grown to love and appreciate the multitude cakes and pastries in England. What I find lacking is a good range and variety with savoury snacks. Apart from the roasted nuts and crisps it is uncommon to walk into a store or bakery and find any mouthwatering savoury snacks to delight the palate.

This recipe for murukku is one that was given to me by a friend; and is made with mostly rice and roasted gram flour. Some may consider it tedious but believe me when I say it is well worth the extra effort!!

Ingredients

Boiled rice (puzhungal arisi or uppidi biyam) - 4 cups

Roasted gram flour (pottu kadali, chutney pappu, putnala pappu) - 3 cups

3 teaspoons chilli powder

Salt to taste

Oil to fry

2 tsps jeera or white sesame seeds (ellu, nuvvulu)

50 gms butter

Wash and soak the rice for about 6 - 8 hours.

Grind it using minimal water in the grinder - I use the Ultra Grinder (table top). The resulting paste should be very smooth and free of any gritty particles of rice. When you take a pinch of the paste and rub between your thumb and finger it should be smooth, you should not feel even the tiniest of resistance from uncrushed rice.

Powder the roasted gram and sieve it so it is free of any bits which may cause the murukku to spit or burst when put into hot oil.

Prepare the area for making the murukkus by clearing the counter space and spreading a thick folded sheet on which to press out the murukkus.

In a large kadai or fry pan pour oil so it is half full. Aim to have about 3 - 4 inches depth of oil, and ensure that there is ample space for cooking the murukku. allow for the oil and murukkus to bubble up, which means the depth of the pan needs to be at least 8 inches for safe cooking.

Start heating the oil, keeping a jalli ganta (jalli karandi) or vada kambi to move and remove murukkus ready.

Add the gram flour to the rice paste, mix well.

Add chilli powder, salt and mix it.

By now you should be having a fairly large ball of murukku dough. To this add the butter working it uniformly into the dough amd finally add the jeera or sesame seeds.

Take handfuls of the dough/paste and fill the murukku mould, press out small circular rings onto the sheet.

Fry one murukku or even a small piece of the paste, and when cooked check to see if the salt and chilli proportions are to your liking.

Once you have pressed out a few, use a flat spoon like the dosa ghanta (dosa karandi) to scoop up the murukku and drop carefully into the hot oil.

Turn the murukku over and when it is golden all over remove from the oil. Drain and transfer to another bowl with paper towels to absorb excess oil.