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Murukku — India
Photo: Thamizhpparithi Maari — CC BY-SA 3.0

Version from India

Murukku — India

Murukku: a South Indian fried snack of rice and urad-dal flour dough, piped into tight spirals and fried until crisp, popular at festivals like Diwali.

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30 min
Prep
30 min
Cook
6
Servings
Medium
Difficulty
Murukku is a South Indian fried snack shaped into tight spirals, made from a dough of rice flour and urad dal (split black lentil) flour, giving it a light crunch rather than a dense bite. The name means "twisted" in Tamil, and the same snack is known under other names in neighbouring languages, including chakli in Kannada and Marathi, chakri in Gujarati, and jantikalu in Telugu, reflecting how widely it travels across South India. The dough is pressed through a hand press or a piping nozzle directly into hot oil, forming spirals that fry until crisp and golden; cumin or sesame seeds and a pinch of asafoetida are usually worked into the dough for flavour before frying. Murukku is closely tied to festivals such as Diwali and Gokulashtami, when it is prepared in batches to share and store, and the town of Manapparai in Tamil Nadu is particularly known for producing it; recipes and shapes still vary from one family or region to the next, some favouring a thicker strand and others a finer, lacier one. Some versions work in a pinch of chile powder or crushed peanuts for extra bite, while others keep the flavour plain enough to pair easily with a cup of tea.

Preparation

  1. Mix the rice flour and urad dal flour together in a large bowl.

  2. Rub in the softened butter until the mixture feels like coarse crumbs.

  3. Add the cumin seeds, sesame seeds, asafoetida and salt, and mix well.

  4. Gradually add water and knead into a soft, pliable dough that holds its shape.

  5. Fill a murukku press or a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle with the dough.

  6. Heat the oil in a deep pan; pipe the dough directly into the hot oil in spiral shapes.

  7. Fry each spiral over medium heat, turning once, until golden and crisp, about 3-4 minutes.

  8. Lift out with a slotted spoon, drain on paper towels, and let cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

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