Indian Cooking Challenge ~ Murukku/Jantikalu

Murukku/Chakli or Jantikalu was chosen as this month’s dish for Indian Cooking Challenge.A while back,Srivalli had mailed us asking if we had Murukku maker with us.I did have one,but the mail got me thinking.I haven’t attempted making a single deep fried snack till date.Usually,we stay away from deep fried goodies altogether but we keep getting home-made stuff from both our homes.But a challenge was meant to be completed,so I went through the recipe and found it quite easy[read-overconfident].

I attempted it a few days back.I followed the recipe to the T and kept thinking that it was a very easy recipe to follow.Boy,was I wrong!!Everything went smoothly till I started making the dough for the murukku.Somehow,the dough was not coming together but after sometime,I managed to make it.Reality struck when I started to press murukkus from the moulds.I was not getting the shape correct,all I got was murukku bits.I was terribly upset..:(.More so because we were leaving for a short trip for a week and I was not sure if I would be able to attempt it again.

The only thing which made me try it again was the taste of the murukku.Crispy and crunchy and superb tasting.

I mailed my doubts and queries to Srivalli,she responded quickly with few tips and reasons as to where I could have gone wrong.She even asked me to go ahead and post about the murukku bits if couldn’t attempt the whole recipe again.But even before I could take any snaps,the bits were gone..hehe:).So I tried it again today,though I am still not happy with the shape,I saved a few good looking ones for the pics..:)

Indian Cooking Challenge ~ Murukku/Jantikalu

Preparation Time : 20 - 30 mins

Cooking Time : 20 - 30 mins

Makes : app 250 kg of Muruku

Cuisine: Andhra & Tamil Nadu

Utensils needed:

Muruku /Chakli Press.

Kadai

Ingredients Needed:

Raw Rice - 4 cups

Urad Dal - 1 cup

Water - app 1/2 cup or more

For Seasoning

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Sesame seeds- 1 tsp

Asafetida/ Hing - 1/2 tsp

Salt to taste

Butter - 75 gms

Method to prepare:

Wash and drain the rice. Shade dry the Rice for 1/2 hr.

Dry roast the Urad dal to light brown. Allow it to cool.

If you are using more quantity, you can get it ground in rice mil, else use your mixie to grind both Rice and Urad dal.

First grind rice into a fine flour, keep it aside. then grind the urad dal to fine powder.

In a wide vessel, take both the flours along with salt. Mix well.

Add cumin, Sesame seeds to the flour, mix well.

Whether you use Asafetida powder or the solid ones, you got to mix it in water, make sure it is dissolved before adding to the flour. If its not dissolved properly, when deep frying the muruku, there are chances for the hing to burst our due to air bubbles.Mix in the hing to the flour and finally add the butter.

Gather everything well and you will get more of a crumbling mixture.

Now slowly add water and knead a dough which is little more softer than the puri dough.

Heat a kadai with oil enough to deep fry. Once the oil is hot enough, simmer to low flame.

Take the Muruku Aachu, wash and wipe it clean. Then divide the dough into equal balls. Fill the Muruku maker with the dough. You can either press it directly over the flames or press over a paper and gently slide it down the hot oil. But since the quantity mentioned here is less, you can press it directly over the kadai.

Cook over medium flame, using a slotted spoon, turn it over to other side to ensure both sides turn golden colour. You will know by seeing the colour that its cooked.

Remove to a kitchen paper and store it in a air tight container.

This normally stays good for weeks, provided you forget about these which hardly happens!

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