Mullu Murukku ... Deepavali special

Deepavali is just round the corner ... Hhhhmmmm, just to think about the festival I can't help wondering how things have changed in the past decade or two ...

U know, the way the festival is celebrated especially when you are residing outside India.  My childhood celebration is different to how my daughter celebrates ... Most of the time I long for all the family gatherings, waking up early in the mornings for the oil bath, new clothes, trays of sweets and savouries waiting for God's blessings, boxes of crackers and the general celebration mood...

Now a days it has become inevitable but to spread our wings and explore outside our own boundaries leading to a life style very much different from our parent's working years which carries its own "pros and cons" ...

Of course, I miss the closeness of family members but being in a foreign country has led to a different type of gathering to celebrate festivals which mostly includes friends....

Seperation from family has led to finding closeness with friends in a much more stronger way ... community forming strategy in a foreign land..:) It doesn't mean that we are a closed group.

In fact most of work colleagues are very interested in finding out what we do during festival times and it is such a learning experience for them and they absolutely relish our food ...:))

So now coming to the recipe, it is quite different from the usual murukku recipe by my MIL's sister. I am very much in the learning stage when it comes to traditional savouries but it was a good learning experience. This murukku has a wonderful spicy flavour from the chilli and garlic and I bet no one can stop with just one murukku.

For the murukku:
Rice flour: 1/2 kg.
Roasted gram [pottukadalai]: 50 gms.
Curd: 3/4 cup.
Dried red chillies: 3.
Garlic pods: 3.
Asafoetida powder: 1 tsp.
Butter [unsalted and melted]: 2 tbsp.
Salt : as required.
Water : as required to make the dough.
Coconut oil: 2 tbsp.

To fry the murukkus:
Equal quantities of cooking oil and coconut oil roughly measuring around 1/2 litre each.

1.Dry roast the roasted gram [pottukadalai] for 1 minute and cool. Grind to a fine powder and seive. Keep the powder aside.
2.Soak the red chillies in a little hot water for 15 minutes. Grind the soaked red chillies and garlic to a fine paste. Drain the paste through a fine seive to seperate the juice and any large bits. Reserve until later use.
3.Beat the curd until smooth.
4.Mix the dry ingredients first - rice flour + roasted gram flour [pottukadalai maavu] + salt + asafoetida powder.
5.Add the beaten curd, the chilli garlic juice and melted butter. Mix thoroughly. Add water little by little to make a soft pliable dough. Cover with a lid and keep aside for 5 minutes.

6.Meanwhile place the oil for frying in a deep heavy bottomed vessel on medium flame.
Fix the murukku maker with the mullu murukku plate [achu - அச்சு] and oil the insides with the pure coconut oil.
7.Apply some coconut oil on your palms and take a small amount of the dough into the murukku maker.
8.Place the top part of the maker on the dough filled bottom portion of the murukku maker and press either directly onto the oil or onto a small oiled plate and then slip it into the oil.
9.Fry until both sides are golden brown in colour and remove the murukkus from oil once the sizzling stops.
10.Drain on paper towels. Repeat the process with the rest of the dough.

Once all the murukkus are completely cooled, store in air tight containers. Enjoy with a hot cup of tea but they do taste delicious just as they are...:))

Notes: If you are an amature cook like me when it comes to making traditional savouries, then here are some tips for you.

Make sure that all the ingredients are as fresh as possible because snacks especially fried ones tastes best when its ingredients are fresh.

Coconut oil imparts a wonderful aroma and flavour to the savoury items but feel free to use the usual cooking oil if you prefer. If using salted butter, then be careful about the amount of salt added to the dough.

Home made rice flour works best but I use shop brought rice flour. So it is your choice to use which ever flour you want.

Substitute dried red chilli with chilli powder and fresh garlic pods with garlic powder. If garlic powder is unavailable, then omit the ingredient completely.

It is important to seive the flours as it helps remove the lumps - so don't forget to seive.

The oil should be at the right temperature - visit this link on how to check the temperature of the oil. 

Enjoy and happy deepavali..

Scribbled by Reva

Murukku - Vinayagar Chathurthi Special..

Happy Vinayaka Chathurthi to everyone ... I know it is too early to wish but this is my favourite of celebration days. I don't know why but I do have a special attaachment  towards Lord Vinayagar. Something about his appearance makes it so easy to like him. I feel he is more of a friendly natured diety when compared to others in Hindu mythology.

The fun part of Indian festival celebration is that you get prepare and taste so many dishes. Snacks .... Hhhhmmm, there is no other way to put this... "I love snacks"..:)) I don't mean factory manufactured packets which are lined up in the super market shelves filled with artificial flavours and colours.

I mean the real stuff... the yummy crunchy snacks which are home made with tender loving care especially during festival times and auspicious days which fill our homes with delicious aromas and make our tummies happy..:)

I am a real amateur when it comes to making authentic sweets and savouries. Whenever I try the savoury items something goes wrong, either the batter is not right - murukkus start bursting once it goes in the oil or the batter disperses in the oil..:( or the flavor of the murukku is not right.

So I asked the help of an expert ... My MIL's sister. She is a wonderful cook and makes everything from mutton thala kari to murukku to maravalli kizhangu chips to maaladu with much ease. When I do question her about how she learnt all these dishes her reply would be "Ahh, its nothing, I just learnt it by making them".

Indeed she also enlightened me with some interesting stories regarding savory snack making.

a. When the murukku is put in the oil it floats to the surface with a big sizzle which is named as "Salangai Satham". Salangai means the sound from a series of small bells attached to a piece of heavy cloth which is tied on each feet when dancing Bharathanatyam /Kathak etc.

b.When the murukkus are done and the sizzle settles, the sound resembles "Kili Satham" meaning sound made by parrots. I don't know if the sizzles do resemble salangai or parrots but it was interesting just to listen to these small entertaining talks.

Recipe Source. Mrs. Nirmala Cinnaswamy.

Raw rice: 4 cups.
Urad dhal: 1/2 cups.
Butter [melted]: 50 gms.
Cumin seeds: 1 and 1/2 tbsp.
Omam:1 tsp.
Salt: 1 and 1/2 tbsp.
Asafoetida powder: 1 tbsp.
Coconut oil: 3 tbsp.
Oil for frying : as required.[Amount of oil used here is around a litre and half of which cooking oil and coconut oil are of equal quantities]

1. Wash the rice twice and drain the water completely. Dry the rice on a clean cloth in shade. When you hold some rice tightly in your hand the rice should hold the shape. When you loosen your hold, the rice should fall apart. This is the right moisture content state [patham].
2.Dry roast the urad dhal on medium flame until it turns slightly red in colour. Remove from flame and cool.
3.Grind both the rice and dhal seperately to a fine powder. Place the powdered rice and dhal in large plates for it to cool completely.
4.Sieve the powders twice and reserve seperately.

5. Mix the powders along with coconut oil, butter, omam, cumin seeds, asafoetida powder and salt thoroughly.
6.Now add water little by little and bring the whole flour mix together to form a soft dough. Meantime heat the required oil on medium flame.
7.Apply some in the murukku maker container and on your hands. Take a small portion of the dough and fill the murukku maker which is fitted with a plate which has 3 tiny holes and keep the rest of the dough aside covered with a wet cloth.
8.Press the dough with the second attachment of the maker [which is also oiled] so that the dough falls in strings. You need to go in circles 3 or 4 times. Make the murukku on a large ladle [jali karandi] and then plunge the ladle into the oil.[see notes]

9.The raw dough murukku will automatically detach itself from the ladle and float in the oil [see notes].
10.Fry upto 3 murukkus at a time as too many  at one time will bring down the temperature of the oil.
11.Remove the murukkus once they are slightly yellowish brown in colour and the sizzling settles.[see notes]
12.Drain on paper towels and store in air tight container when they are completely cool.

Notes:
Using coconut oil gives a lovely flavour to the murukku but you can use ordinary cooking oil to make them.

I would strongly suggest to use an extra large ladle to squeeze the murukku first and then plunge the ladle into the oil. If you are confident, you can squeeze the murukku directly into the oil.

The oil should be in the right temperature meaning once the murukku goes into the oil it should float to the top with a big sizzle. It the murukku sinks to the bottom of the vessel then the oil is a bit cold. If the murukku becomes reddish to dark reddish in colour before the sizzle settles, then the oil is too hot.

It is best to test the oil temperature by dropping a small piece of the dough into the oil before making the murukku.

It is essential to use fresh ingredients as savoury items made with old stuff does not have good flavour nor aroma and goes bad very soon.

I have used murukku attachment plate which has 3 tiny holes. You can use other attachments which have one large opening or 3 medium openings according to your preference. The only thing to take into account is the cooking time of the murukku - the thicker it is the more time it will take to cook.

You can use store brought ready made rice flour and urad dhal flour. Dry roast the flours seperately and cool the flours completely and proceed as per the recipe.


Enjoy...


Scribbled by Reva

Sweet and Kaara Butter Seedai

         Krishna Jayanthi is not complete without any prasadham offerings to Krishna. So many items are offered to him on the auspicious day. Obviously I can't make everything, so had to zero down on two items. Seedai seemed innocent enough for me to try.

             I have read some scary stories but I thought I will give it a go. I possibly couldn't prepare the flour at home, so I used store brought flours.This is my first experiment with seedai. Mixing the flours was easy but rolling them into equal size balls about 1 cm in diameter was the difficult job.
            Seriously I don't have the patience...... it is like you see an awesome song of SRK and Kajol from their forth coming film and then you have to wait till the movie is released which will be after 2-3 weeks. How frustrating is that!!!!!

            I rolled them and left it to dry for nearly  6 hours .... now this is the kaara seedai we are talking about. The sweet seedai story is a different story:)

            I feel "Sweet Seedai" represents Krishna and "Butter Kaara Seedai" represents Radha.... the perfect match:)

Kaara Butter Seedai:

Rice flour [roasted]: 2 cups.
Urad dhal flour [roasted] : 1/2 cup.
Melted butter: 50 gms.
Salt: 1 tsp.

Asafoetida powder: 1/2 tsp.
Cumin: 1 tsp.
Water: as needed to make a dough
Vegetable oil: to fry the seedai

1. Mix all the ingredients until you get a fine bread crumb consistency.
2.Then add the water little by little to get a firm dough.
3.Make small equal sized round balls around 1cm in diameter.
4.Arrange them on a newspaper or clean white cloth which can absorb moisture.
5.Let the seedai dry out for atleast a couple of hours.

6.Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Fry a small piece of the dough to see if it just pops up and not bursting.
7.Don't add too many seedai at once, maybe 5 to 8 depending on the size of the frying pan.
8.The seedai will automatically float on top of the hot oil when done.
9.Drain on kitchen towels and store them in air tight containers when completely cooled.

Sweet Seedai.

           By the time I finished making the savoury version, it was already 6 in the evening. Then I finished my dinner and then I started with the sweet version at 11 in the night. It was well worth the time and effort.

           I found this recipe in one of the famous blogs around which is none other than DK 's Chef in you. It was an easy recipe, explained very well and presented beautifully. I didn't dare to change the recipe in anyway but made a few adjustments. I didn't have fresh coconut, so I used dessicated coconut and added 1 tsp of sesame seeds. Also I added 1 tbsp of ghee.

           The real fun part was preparing the jaggery syrup. It was not the usual method but worked out perfectly fine.

Rice flour: 1 cup.
Urad dhal flour: 2 tsp.
Powdered jaggery: 1 cup.
Hot water: 1 cup.
Ghee: 1 tbsp.
Dessicated coconut: 1 tbsp.
Cardamom powder: 1/2 tsp.
White sesame seeds: 1/2 tsp.

1.Take the jaggery in a bowl and add 1 cup of hot water. Let it sit for 40 minutes.
2.Roast the sesame seeds until aromatic and keep aside.
3.Mix the rice flour, urad flour, sesame seeds, ghee, cardamom powder and dessicated coconut together.

4.Filter the jaggery syrup and add it to the flour mix little by little until you get a firm dough consistency.
5.Make small equal sized balls of 1 cm diameter. Spread them on a news paper and let them dry out for a good couple of hours.
6.Heat oil and fry the seedai in small batches.
7.Drain on paper towels and store in air tight containers.

Note: You might have some syrup left which can be used for something else.

I enjoyed making them and tasting them. They were awesome ....

Enjoy....


Scribbled by Reva