Monday, February 1, 2010

Kai Murukku - My practice sessions



One of the traditional Tamil cookbooks I have recommends to practise making kaimurukku at leisure in small quantities to perfect them. Every year on the day of gokulashtami I vow myself to try them again. I never get around making them often. I was having lunch with a friend last week and she had mentioned that her husband is very fond of adhirasams. So I decided to make a few for them. I had wanted to take a savoury dish along with them. So decided to make kai murukkus. They were very welcome, needless to say.
I have posted the kai murukku in my gokulashtami bakshanams among other snacks. This is a more detailed post.
I follow recipes from my cook book, my aunts and my own notes written as a foot note below these.
It is best to have the raw rice which is not aged for these savouries. The yield while pounding will be more this way. I used Ponni Raw rice purchased in India. For two cups of rice I got around 4 cups and 1/2 of a cup of powdered rice flour.
Ingredients:
Raw rice 2 cups
Split black gram/ Urad dhal (split) 1/4 cup
Butter 75 grams to 90 grams ( I use 90 grams)
Asafoetida powder 1 teaspoon
Cumin seeds 2 teaspoons
Sesame seeds 2 teaspoons
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying
Coconut oil few teaspoons for greasing the tips of the fingers while rolling the murukkus



Method:
Wash and soak the raw rice for two hours.
Drain the excess water and spread on a clean cloth to absorb extra moisture. ( I usually skip spreading over a cloth as I drain the rice well and pound immediately in my mixer).
Pound this rice to a fine powder, seiving after each round of pounding.
Dry roast the urad dhal in a heavy pan until golden. Powder this in a mixer and seive to a fine powder. ( 1/4 cup of roasted urad dhal will yield nearly 1/3 cup of powder).
Mix the flours, salt, asafoetida powder, cumin seeds and sesame seeds well. Rub the butter in using tips of your fingers to incorporate the fat well.
Add water to the above gradually and knead to a soft dough. Cover with a lid, not allowing the air to dry the dough.
Spread a clean cloth on the counter or on the kitchen floor.
Take a small ball of the dough in your palm. Grease the tips of your fingers with coconut oil. Roll the dough between your fingers to a small rope. Fixing one end of the rope as the starting point, twist simultaneously like a chain. Turn your hand in a circular motion, dropping the twisted rope on the sheet. Go two or three rounds thus. Seal the other edge to the chain.



Repeat with few more.
Heat oil in a pan. When the oil is very hot, but not nearly smoking, drop gently the prepared murukkus using the spatula, into the oil. Drop as many as the oil will hold, yet the murukkus can move freely in the oil and cook.
Deep fry until the murulkkus are golden brown. Remove from oil and drain in a colander.


While one batch of murukkus are frying, you may roll out some more. If you find that difficult, roll enough to fry in two batches. Once they are ready, switch the heat off. You may prepare some more and reheat the oil to deep fry the rest.
Once the murukkus are ready allow to cool and store in airtight containers.
For best results the murukkus shall be made while the rice flour is moist or the flour should have dried atleast for three days, devoid of all moisture.
Most books give the ratio of rice flour to urad dhal flour as 9:1, but my friend told me even lesser urad dhal powder will work well. If urad dhal flour is more the murukkus will be hard.
The butter should also be mixed well. Otherwise, the portion where the butter is present might pop open.
If making larger quantities, mix all the dry ingredients and the butter. Divide this in batches and mix the dough adding water to each portion. If the mixed dough is kept for long, the murukkus will tend to become brown.
Sometimes the salt may not mix well and as a result the murukkus will shoot out while frying. To avoid this, you may boil the water that you will use to mix the dough, dissolve the salt in this and mix the dough with the salted water.
Though all of the above seem intimidating, you can make crisp and delicious murukkus, with some practice and patience.

44 comments:

  1. You have succeded very well, they look perfect just like gramothers usually make them! :))

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hard work gains success. Tempting and crispy.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow!!! This has come out so well, Lata. My grandma makes kaimurukku really well.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Looks perfect ,very professional.yummy again my favorite adhirasam

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dear Latha- Ur Kai Murukku look perfect and inviting. Seems like a lot of work though and as you mentioned..practice makes perfect..WE can see the proof rt here...BTW my MIL makes these savory snacks and we enjoy them.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow, kai murukku looks perfectly made!!.. beautiful:)... Adhirasam looks delicious:)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have book marked your blog as I find your recipes very unique and very different to anything I cook.Its good to learn foods from other regions and places.These snacks look yummy similar to chakri we make with rice flour.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I can never dare to try this one! U have made it beautifully and perfect!

    ReplyDelete
  9. practice sessionalye kai murukku ivalo alagaa panirkingale, looks perfect for me and athirasam looks gorgeous too.., looks so crispy dear

    ReplyDelete
  10. Looks perfect and crisp. Just love these kai murukku.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Lataji, kai murukku looks awesome, I used to help my mom make these when I was a kid, never dared to try making this on my own, you are tempting me way too much!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Perfect and looks absolutely delicious!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Looks beautiful and thank you for the detailed post!

    ReplyDelete
  14. They look so delicious and i can see your experience in that perfect shaped murukkus.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Lathakka, kaimurukku has come out well. I keep thinking of practising it but never got around to start.

    ReplyDelete
  16. they have just turned out perfect..its an art and I still have to learn...Btw, i stay in singapore..you had mentioned JB in your post..so thought of asking..you still remember the shop's name so well!!!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wow they turned out really very prefect for u...am still learning with my mom, she is an expert in this..

    ReplyDelete
  18. nice and crunchy..love the step by step presentation..

    ReplyDelete
  19. Ohh,well done,I love the flavor of home made kai murukku,its completely different from the store boughtones. My paati and amma makes,my paati makes best looking murukkus,practise makes perfect! Yours is way too good looking!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Your kai murrukku has turned out perfect ! I have tried once or twice when my MIL makes them to master the murukku chuthara process but haven't mastered it yet :-( For now I will satisfy myself with just pictures of your murukku :-)

    ReplyDelete
  21. Wow.. you got it perfect! Love them so much..

    ReplyDelete
  22. Looks very Crispy.My mom makes these,and she says it needs perfection to make them.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Kalakiteenga akka... i've tried adhirasam once (because Arun likes it) and it flopped big time. Kai murukku, i've tried several times as a kid and never mastered it.. my grandma and mom do it beautifully.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Wow Lata, your post simply reminds me of Mom, everyone requests her to make murukku cos she makes them of the same size and shape and they taste wonderful too.. After looking at your am missing them so much!!! They have come out really awesome, beautiful all of the same size, perfect....

    ReplyDelete
  25. Lataji,

    Your kai muruku reminds me my patti making it. You have mastered it. However, one time i started and finally end up using muruku achu make it. I haven't tried after that. I love to try.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Nothing like good ol' kai murukku - you are there - looks perfect!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Your murukkus are just operfect. I last tried my hand at these about 3 years ago. Though I got some decent ones, I haven't made them sonce. I think I should as we love these.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Muruku looks yummy..we call this as sakinaalu in Telugu..This is a traditional recipe made during sankranti festival here...

    ReplyDelete
  29. Gorgeous Murukku Ji.. And so perfect they are...!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Oh wwooww.. can you please parcel some and send? :) . I am so sure that I will never get the twisting trick when rolling out the murukkus... I love love these!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Wow, kannula othikalaam pola iruku. I love kai muruku but have never had courage to attempt it at home. These steps and tips will help a lot. Definitely a must try. I had listed this for ICC to Valli. this would be the best instructions to repeat! appadiye naakula karanjudumnu ninaikiren ;) Thanks Lata!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Wow! How cute is that...this is something Im yet to learn though Im a true Tamil by heart. I think Im getting inspiring vibes from your post. Thanks so much for sharing such a traditionally prepared snack and Kudos!
    Love
    Madhuri

    ReplyDelete
  33. wow...awesome job there..Wish I could have this much patience :-) Looks perfect and crisp..bravo !!

    ReplyDelete
  34. The murukkus look beautiful Lata ji and kudos to your patience level. I love the detail in your posts and the very many useful tips :-)

    ReplyDelete
  35. Murrukus look so nice Lataji. I make murukkus with the presser only, cant make the kai murukku, amma makes it when I go home.

    Adirasams look good next to them too, reminds me of the wedding seer pakshanam. I just saw the link for adirasams too, it gave me the courage to try it at home, usually the paagu is the tricky one for me.

    ReplyDelete
  36. HI

    I just want to know that can we use rice flour and urdal powder from shop to do this please guide me.

    I am interested to this please

    ReplyDelete
  37. @Anonymous, I am writing here as i do not have your e-mail id in the comment thread. I hope you read this!
    I have not tried so far using both store bought in this murukku, but have tried in others and have had good results. This we have always done with freshly ground flour. However, since the cookbook I use suggests that the flour should either be fresh and moist or sun dried for three days at the least. Thus I am hoping store bought flour may be that dry enough to make these. You may find that hard to shape them depending on the age of the flour.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Urs look perfect.but wat abt adding coconut milk while kneading. Cos always murukkus from shop has a different taste.

    ReplyDelete

Hello,
Welcome and thank you for taking time to drop by.
I appreciate your valuable comments and tips.
I sincerely hope to improve with them.
Hope we shall interact often.
Thanks once again,
Lata Raja.