Last year I bookmarked this super crispy and white colored Ulundu murukku / Urad dal murukku recipe from Sakthi samayal Youtube channel. For this year Diwali, I started my sweets and snacks preparation with Instant doodh peda with milk powder and this super white, crunchy Urad dal murukku / Ulundu murkku.
For every diwali, we make thenkuzhal murukku at home by using Idiyappam flour and roasted urad dal flour. We all love it. But this ulundu murukku is prepared by pressure cooking urad dal, ground to a smooth paste and then added to store bought dry rice flour. There is no need to use idiyappam flour as well. It comes out so well even in the first attempt. In fact, I loved this murukku. I am sure I will make this murukku every year for Diwali. But one thing, this murukku absorbs some oil when compared with thenkuzhal. As we are using boiled Urad dal, this murukku absorbs little oil. So it won't come out dry. But there is no compromise in taste, flavor and crunchiness when compared with our thenkuzhal.
Don’t worry even if you are a beginner. You will get it perfect if you follow the steps given below. Lets see how to make this crunchy urad dal chakli / ulundu murukku with step by step pictures.
Wash and pressure cook urad dal adding 1 cup of water in low flame for 2 whistles.
Drain the excess water and grind urad dal to smooth paste.
Sieve rice flour in a wide bowl. Add cumin seeds, hing, salt and butter.
Mix well. Add urad dal paste and mix till crumbly. Sprinkle little water and make non sticky dough.
Fill the dough in murukku press. Squeeze and make shapes in the back of ladle.
Drop in hot oil and deep fry both the sides till bubbles cease. Remove and drain in a tissue paper.
Cool down and store in a tight box. Stays good for 2 weeks.
METHOD - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Wash the urad dal and take in a pressure cooker. Add 1 cup of water and pressure cook in low flame for 2 whistles.
Open the cooker after the steam is released. Drain the excess water if any and grind the urad dal to smooth paste like butter. You can add little water while grinding if needed.
In a wide bowl, sieve the rice flour. Crush cumin seeds slightly and add to the rice flour. Add salt, hing and melted butter. Mix well.
Add urad dal paste and mix well till crumbly. Add little water to make a smooth, non sticky dough. Cover the dough with a wet cloth till use.
Take the murukku press with 3 or 5 holes mould. Fill the murukku press with the dough. Squeeze and shape murukku in the back of ladle.
Heat oil to deep fry. Drop a pinch of dough to check oil temperature. If it rises to the top immediately, drop 2 to 3 murukku and fry both the sides in medium flame till bubbles cease and murukku settles down in the bottom of oil. Make sure you cook in medium flame to make white colored murukku. Cooking in high flame makes the murukku golden brown in color. If the oil is too hot, switch off the flame. Bring it to correct temperature and then proceed frying.
Remove the murukku and drain excess oil in a tissue paper. Store in an air tight box after it cools down. Stays good for 2 weeks. Enjoy !
Note
I used 1 cup of water for 1/2 cup of urad dal for pressure cooking.
I also used around 1/4 cup of water while grinding urad dal to smooth paste. So please adjust this quantity based on the need.
Do not fry this murukku in high flame because color changes to golden brown. Always cook in low to medium flame.
Try this easy, yummy, ulundu murukku for this Diwali and enjoy !
Last year during Gokulashtami , I bookmarked this aval murkku recipe / Poha murukku to try. But I couldn’t do it. So this year, I started making my Gokulashtami recipes with this easy, instant murukku recipe without butter. I just used store bought rice flour, ground poha, pottukadalai maavu/ roasted gram dal flour, hot oil and spices for flavor. I never thought it comes out so crispy and crunchy. It was a super hit at home. I referred so many YouTube videos, blogs, cookbooks for this recipe.
When I was going through the comments section, I saw many people complained about more oil absorption. So I was also worried about it. But surprisingly, this aval murkku didn’t drink more oil as I thought. Due to the addition of roasted chana dal @ roasted gram dal flour (Pottukadalai maavu), it does absorb oil to some extent but not much. The crispness and flavor of this murukku is really good. For an instant chakli recipe, this is really good and quick to make. In this recipe, I have used thin poha / paper aval. You can use thick poha too.
For this Krishna Janmashtami, if you are planning to try some Instant murukku recipe, then you must try this. I am sure you will love it. Friends, lets see how to make instant aval murukku recipe with step by step pictures and video. Please check the NOTES section for all the details to make perfect murukku.
Poha / Pressed rice / rice flaked / Aval - 1/2 cup ( I used thin rice flakes)
Roasted gram dal / Pottukadalai - 1/4 cup
Hot cooking oil - 1 tbsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Hing / Asafetida - 1/4 tsp
Ajwain /Carom seeds - 1 tsp (crush in hands and add it)
Salt & water - as needed
Cooking oil – to deep fry ( I used refined oil)
HOW TO MAKE AVAL MURUKKU
In a mixie jar, grind poha and roasted gram dal to a fine powder.
Take a wide bowl. Sieve the ground poha mixture, rice flour.
Add red chilli powder, salt, hing and ajwain seeds crushed in hands.
Mix well. Add hot cooking oil and mix well. Then add water gradually.
Make a smooth, non-sticky dough. Cover with a wet cloth till use.
Take a chakli maker with round or star holes mould. Fill a portion of dough.
Press it in the back of ladle and shape the murukku as you like.
Heat oil and deep fry the murukku in batches. Cook both the sides till bubbles stop completely.
Remove and drain the excess oil in a tissue paper. Store in a box after the murukku cools down.
It stays good for a week. Enjoy !
METHOD - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Take all the ingredients required to make aval murukku recipe. Grind aval /poha and roasted gram dal together to a fine powder.
In a wide bowl, place a sieve. Add the ground flour, rice flour and sieve well. To this, add red chilli powder, salt, hing and ajwain seeds by crushing in the hands slightly ( It helps to release more flavor). Mix well.
Add 1 tbsp of very hot oil to the flours. Mix using a ladle to handle the hot oil. Then mix it with your hands to spread the oil evenly all over the flour. After mixing, you should be able to hold and make a shape out of it. Refer picture below for better understanding.
Now add water gradually and make a smooth, non-sticky dough. This dough takes more water than usual. I used nearly 1.25 to 1.5 cups of water. Make sure the dough is not too hard with cracks or too soft and sticky. Cover the dough with wet cloth.
Take the murukku press/ chakli maker with round shaped holes or star holes as you wish. I used a 5 holed mould as shown in the picture below. Fill the dough and press to make shapes. Remember to cover the unused dough with a wet cloth always. It helps to prevent the drying.
Press the murukku in the back of ladle. If the murukku gets cut while pressing, you need to add more water to the dough. Heat oil to deep fry. Drop a pinch of dough. If it rises to top immediately, oil temperature is right. Lower the flame to medium and drop one or two murukku per batch based on the size of kadai.
Fry patiently in medium flame, flip and cook both the sides till bubbles stop completely. Do not cook in high flame. Murukku turns brown in color. Remove and drain in a tissue paper. Store in a box after the murukku cools down completely. Stays good and crispy for a week !
Note
You can use store bought plain rice flour for this recipe. No need to use idiyappam or kozhukattai flour.
I did not dry roast the flour.
I used thin poha here. You can use thick ones too.
Do not add more hot oil or more roasted gram. Then murukku absorbs more oil while cooking.
Always cover the murukku dough with a wet cloth while unused.
Murukku becomes hard if you reduce the quantity of hot oil. You can also use melted butter instead of hot oil.
Shaping will not be prefect if the dough is too hard with less moisture. String gets cut while pressing. To avoid this, sprinkle some water to the dough. Mix well and then shape it.
Heat of the oil should be correct for crispy murukku. If its too hot, murukku turns brown at the outside and inside remains soft.
If the oil starts smoking, you can switch off the flame. Bring it to right temperature and then start to fry again. Adjust the flame whenever needed.
Murukku turns soggy or soft if you don’t fry it until bubbles cease. So fry in medium flame patiently till bubbles stop completely.
Murukku turns hard if you add less fat or if the dough is too tight.
Murukku absorbs more oil if the oil temperature is less or if the dough is sticky and wet.
Try this easy, crispy Aval murukku / Poha chakli for this Gokulashtami and enjoy !
Instant besan murukku / Kadalai maavu murukku was in my try list since last Diwali. Some people make this murukku during Gokulashtami / Krishna jayanthi too. During this lockdown period, when I was craving for some spicy murukku, I made this instant besan chakli for the first time. It came out crunchy and tasty. We all loved it. So I have made it twice in the past 2 weeks.
Though I used thenkuzhal mould, I din’t have patience to make shapes. I made one big sized murukku and break into bite sized pieces like butter murukku. I have tried with both butter (vennai) and ghee (nei in tamil). It works well. I made a spicy murukku adding chilli powder. You can also use pepper powder for different taste. Color of this murukku may vary based on the chilli powder you use. This instant chakli can be stored up to a month.
We can enjoy it during lunch and tea time. Friends, do try this easy, yummy, instant besan kara murukku recipe and enjoy.
Red chilli powder – 1 tsp ( I used Kashmiri chilli powder)
Ajwain / Omam – 1/2 tsp
Asafetida / Hing – 1/4 tsp
Melted ghee – 1.5 tbsp / 4.5 tsp
Hot oil - 1/2 tbsp ( 3/4 tsp)
Salt – as needed
Water - as needed
Cooking oil - to deep fry
HOW TO MAKE BESAN MURUKKU
In a wide bowl, sieve besan flour and rice flour.
Add red chilli powder, ajwain, hing, melted ghee, hot oil and salt.
Mix well without adding water.
Now sprinkle water and make a smooth dough.
Take the murukku press with round or star shaped mould.
Fill the dough and press in hot oil directly or in the back of a ladle.
Put the murukku in hot oil and deep fry both the sides in medium flame till bubbles stop.
Drain and remove in a tissue paper. Store in a box once its cooled down.
Stays good for a month if handled properly without exposing to air.
BESAN MURUKKU - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
In a wide bowl, place a sieve/ mesh. Sieve besan flour and rice flour. Add red chilli powder, hing, ajwain, salt, melted ghee and hot oil. Mix uniformly without adding water.
Now sprinkle water gradually and make a smooth, non sticky dough. Make sure dough is not too wet or too hard.
Take the murukku/ chakli press and grease with oil for easy pressing. You can use thenkuzhal mould or star mould. Take a portion of dough and press it well. Cover the remaining dough with a plate. Do not let it dry in air.
Heat oil in a kadai and when it gets heated , drop a pinch of batter to check the oil temperature. If it rises to the top immediately, oil is heated. Now lower the flame and press the murukku over the hot oil in a circular shape. You can make it small or big in size. (If the oil temperature is less, murukku will dissolve in oil. So make sure oil temperature is right).
Increase the flame to medium and cook for few seconds without touching it. Then flip it and deep fry the murukku till golden in color on both the sides. Toss and flip whenever needed. Remove once the bubble cease. Cook patiently in medium flame to get a nice golden color because this murukku blackens quickly if cooked in high flame. So take care in frying part. If the oil is over heated or smoky, switch off the flame for sometime and let the oil cool down a bit before frying the next batch.
Remove and drain in a tissue paper.Store in an air tight box once its cooled down completely. Enjoy with rice or as an evening snack.
Note
Adjust the quantity of chilli powder as per your taste.
Do not reduce the quantity of ghee or oil. If fat is less, murukku will become hard to bite.
Deep fry the murukku patiently else it will go dark/ black in color.
If the murukku gets cut while pressing, dough should be hard or dry. So sprinkle some water and try to press the murukku.
Try this easy, yummy, instant besan murukku and enjoy !
Besan murukku / Kadalai maavu murukku recipe was in my try list since Gokulashtami/ Krishna jayanthi. So I tried this murukku as my first Diwali snacks recipe. I always have a love towards mini murukku/ small murukku since childhood. We call it as chinna murukku or kutty murukku in Tamil. When I was young, we used to buy mini kai murukku from a nearby snacks shop. Iam not so good in shaping mini kai murukku. So I tried this besan murukku in small size using star mould just like Udupi brand murukku. Basically my daughter Raksha doesn’t like big sized mullu murukku as it pricks the jaws while eating. When I made this mullu murukku in small size, she had it happily without any complaints.
This bite sized murukku is so easy to eat and also appealing to our eyes. She took few for her school snacks box today to share with her friends. This shows the hit of this small besan murukku right??😊. One more thing I would like to share. This murukku doesn't have a melt in mouth texture. It's slightly hard to bite hard but definitely crunchy. Friends, do try this mini murukku for your kids and family during this Diwali and let me know how they liked it. Lets see how to make besan flour murukku / kadalai maavu murukku with step by step pictures.
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp (Adjust based on your taste)
Ajwain / Omam - 1/2 tsp
Black sesame seeds - 1/2 tsp
Hing / Asafetida - 1/4 tsp
Salt & water - as needed
Cooking oil – to deep fry murukku
HOW TO MAKE BESAN MURUKKU
In a bowl sieve and mix besan flour, rice flour.
Add ajwain, red chilli powder, sesame seeds, hing, butter, hot oil and salt.
Mix well. Then add water gradually and make a smooth, pliable, slightly sticky dough.
In the murukku press, keep the star mould and fill the dough.
Heat oil and check the temperature. Press the small murukku in a sheet.
Drop in hot oil and fry both the sides till bubbles cease. Remove in a tissue paper.
Store in a box after murukku comes to room temperature. Stays good for 15 days. Enjoy !
BESAN FLOUR MURUKKU - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
In a wide bowl, place a sieve. Add rice flour and besan flour to it. Sieve them well.
Add salt, hing, ajwain, sesame seeds, red chilli powder , hot oil and butter. Mix well without water to spread the butter evenly with the flour.
Now add water gradually and make a smooth, pliable dough. Dough can be slightly sticky. If you add less water, murukku gets cut while pressing. So add right amount of water. Cover the dough with a plate till use. Do not dry the dough.
Take the murukku press and place the star mould or round mould with a single hole. Fill the murukku dough. In a butter paper or polythene sheet, press the murukku. Make small sized murukku with one rotation as I did.
Heat oil in a kadai. Drop a pinch of dough and see if it comes to top immediately without changing in color. It indicates correct oil temperature.
Now drop kutty murukku one by one in oil. Beginners, slide the murukku in the corner of kadai to avoid splashing of oil. Cook 10 to 15 in one batch based on the quantity of oil. Cook in medium flame. Toss in regular intervals and cook both the sides till bubbles cease. Do not burn it. Cook patiently in correct flame. Remove & drain the oil in a tissue paper.
Store the murukku in a box after it cools down. Stays good for 15 days, enjoy !
Note
Adjust the quantity of red chilli powder as per your taste. Color of murukku depends on chilli powder. Skip if you don’t like to use it.
Do not over fry, it turns black. Cook in medium flame by tossing in regular intervals.
Pottukadalai murukku / roasted gram flour murukku recipe is a simple, easy and instant murukku recipe that is usually prepared for Diwali and Krishna jayanthi /Gokulashtami. It comes out super crispy, crunchy with soft and melt in mouth texture. It can be prepared easily and quickly with store bought rice flour / Idiyappam flour (arisi maavu), roasted gram flour (pottukadalai maavu) and butter/ hot oil. As murukku with roasted gram flour is less flavorful when compared with urad dal ones, we can add ajwain/ Omam, red chilli powder, hing for enhanced flavors and taste. I learnt this simple murukku recipe from my neighbor Divya.
Recently I shared a picture of this murukku along with sweet boondi and mysore pak in my Instagram page too. We all loved it especially the smell of ajwain in this murukku. Usually I add cumin seeds /jeeragam or sesame seeds / ellu. I never knew ajwain can be added too. So when my neighbor shared her mom’s recipe, I tried it instantly. It was so good, soft and melted in mouth. Raksha liked this murukku more than my Chettinad thenkuzhal as it was prepared without butter and slightly hard to bite. For variations you can skip red chilli powder to make white colored murukku. Remember pottukadalai murukku absorbs some oil when compared with urad dal murukku. Ok, lets see how to make super easy and quick pottukadalai murukku recipe with step by step pictures.
Grind 1/4 cup pottukadalai and measure 1/4 cup powder from it.
In a bowl, sieve rice flour, roasted gram flour.
Add salt, red chilli powder, ajwain, sesame seeds and melted butter.
Mix well to spread butter in the flour. Add required water and make a slightly sticky dough.
Fill murukku press with dough and squeeze in hot oil. Deep fry both sides till bubbles cease.
Remove and drain in a paper towel. Store in a box after cooling down.
Stays good for 10 days.
INSTANT POTTUKADALAI MURUKKU - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Take 2 tbsp pottukadalai / roasted gram flour and grind to fine powder. You will get around 1/3 cup of powder after grinding. So measure 1/4 cup of powder from it and set aside.
In a wide plate bowl, sieve store bought rice flour, 1/4 cup pottukadalai powder. Add salt, red chilli powder, sesame seeds, crushed ajwain and melted butter. Mix well to spread the butter in the flour.
Sprinkle required water and make a smooth, slightly sticky dough. If the dough is dry, murukku gets cut while pressing. So make the dough slightly sticky so that making shapes would be easy.
Fill the murukku mould with the dough. Cover the remaining dough with a wet cloth to avoid drying. Take 3 holed or single holed mould. I used murukku mould with 5 holes.
Heat oil to deep fry. Check the oil temperature by dropping a pinch of dough. If it rises to the top immediately, heat of the oil is perfect. Now squeeze the murukku in circular motion in the oil directly OR press murukku in a greased ladle or butter paper ( I used oil wrapper). Drop in the hot oil. Do not disturb for a minute. Cook in medium flame.
Flip and cook both the sides till bubbles cease. No problem if there are one or two bubbles. Remove and drain in a tissue paper. Store the murukku after it cools down. Keep in an air tight box and enjoy. It stays good for 10 days.
Enjoy !
Note
For variations, you can use 1 tbsp of hot oil instead of butter.
Do not increase the quantity of butter. Murukku may disperse in oil.
If dough breaks while pressing murukku, add little water to the dough and make it slightly sticky. It will help.
Try this easy, yummy, crunchy pottukadalai murukku for Diwali and enjoy !
Chettinad style thenkuzhal murukku recipe was in my try list for years. Recently I had a 2 days trip to Karaikudi, Pillayarpatti and Kundrathur. I visited Karaikudi just to enjoy Chettinad special food. We stayed in Chidambara vilas, heritage resort and had a good time exploring places in Karaikudi. I had Chettinad special vegetarian lunch at The Bangala and enjoyed their food thoroughly. I went to the most popular Soundaram aachi snack shop and bought all the snack items worth Rs.1500.
Among the snacks I tasted, I loved this Chettinad thenkuzhal and seepu seedai. I couldn’t meet Soundaram aachi but I got the recipe and details from the workers. I came to know Chettinad people use IR20 C. R Pachai arisi (Cut vellai pacharisi) for making this thenkuzhal/murukku. They add ghee and roasted urad dal powder to the processed rice flour and make this thenkuzhal. They use a 3 holed murukku mould for shaping it. I enquired them and bought the same from shops in Koppudai Nayaki amman temple street( Bazaar street) in Karaikudi. Here is collage of pictures of IR20 raw rice, thenkuzhal murukku press, Soundaram snacks shop and their products. But I did not try Soundaram aachi's recipe instead I followed the authentic Chettinad thenkuzhal murukku recipe without butter or ghee and tried it.
I referred Solai aachi's thenkuzhal murukku maavu post for the ratio of raw rice and urad dal. Murukku came out super white in color even without using Vanaspati, butter or ghee. Generally Chettinad people make murukku maavu by grinding raw rice and roasted urad dal. They just wash the rice, dry under the shade for a day. Dry roast the urad dal till hot and grind both rice and dal in a flour mill. They store this murukku maavu and make thenkuzhal whenever needed. As we are not using butter or ghee, this murukku would be crunchy and slightly hard to bite. It doesn’t have a melt in mouth texture. You should have a strong teeth to munch this murukku😀.
Its taste will remind the olden days thenkuzhal recipe which our granny's used to make without butter. To make soft murukku, you can add melted butter or ghee but the color of this murukku may change. Finally its your choice of making this murukku with or without butter. Similarly you can try the same recipe with store bought idiyappam flour but results may vary slightly. Friends, do try this easy, yummy Chettinad thenkuzhal recipe for this Diwali and enjoy ! Lets see how to make Chettinad murukku recipe with step by step pictures.
Here is a collage of our stay at Chidambara vilas, heritage resort along with its Chettinad special breakfast.
Chettinad Thenkuzhal Recipe
Chettinad Thenkuzhal Recipe - White murukku recipe without butter or ghee.
Raw rice / Pacharisi ( IR20 ) – 1 cup ( Maavu arisi)
White urad dal – 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp
Salt – as needed
Hot oil – 1 tbsp (optional, I din't use)
Water – to knead the dough
HOW TO MAKE CHETTINAD THENKUZHAL
To make Chettinad thenkuzhal murukku maavu, wash and soak raw rice in water for one hour.
Drain the water completely. Spread in a white cloth. Dry under the shade for one day or two.
After the rice is completely dry, grind to a fine powder. Sieve and set aside.
Dry roast white, round urad dal without changing its color till hot. Powder and sieve it.
Add to rice flour, salt, asafetida, hot oil or melted ghee(If using) and mix well. Add the required water.
Make smooth dough. Heat oil to deep fry. Press and shape the murukku. Drop in oil.
Deep fry both sides till bubbles cease. Remove from oil, drain and store in a box.
Chettinad thenkuzhal is ready. It stays good for a month.
CHETTINAD THENKUZHAL RECIPE - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Lets prepare Chettinad thenkuzhal murukku maavu as a first step. For this, wash the maavu pacharisi (IR20 raw rice) and soak in enough water for one to 2 hours. Drain the water and spread the soaked rice in a cotton cloth under shade for one day based on the weather. Do not dry under the sun. Rice should become completely dry. Alternately you can just roast the rice till puffy and grind the rice.
After the rice is dry, grind in a mixie to a fine powder. Sieve in a wide plate and grind the coarse ones again till smooth. Repeat until all the rice is ground finely.
Dry roast white, round urad dal until hot. Roast it patiently without changing the color. Murukku doesn’t come out white if you roast the dal till golden brown in color. Keep mixing and tossing the dal. When the dal becomes hot, remove from the flame and let it cool down.
Grind to a smooth powder. Sieve and add to rice flour. Add salt, hing and hot oil.You can also use melted ghee. Mix well. Then add required water and make a smooth dough. No problem if the dough is slightly sticky.
Fill the murukku press with the dough ( I sealed 2 holes with a cello tape inside and outside). Heat oil to deep fry. Drop a pinch of dough and check the oil temperature. Keep the flame low to medium and squeeze the murukku over the oil directly OR press the murukku in a greased ladle or a sheet as shown in the picture. Then drop in hot oil. You can put 3 to 4 murukku per batch. Cook both sides by flipping it. Cook till bubbles cease completely.
Murukku remains white in color if you fry in medium flame by tossing whenever needed. If you have used ghee in the dough, color may change slightly. Remove the murukku from the oil. Drain in a paper towel. Repeat the same in batches. Chettinad thenkuzhal is ready. Cool down the murukku and store in a box. It stays good for a month.
Enjoy !
Note
You can wash the rice, dry under shade and grind in a mill else dry roast the rice till puffy and then grind it. Both works well.
Ratio of rice and urad dal is 2.5 :1. Some recipes use 3:1 too.
Addition of hot oil, ghee or butter helps to give soft texture to the murukku but color may not be pure white.
If you feel the oil has become too hot, you can switch off the flame and cool down the oil. Then make the next batch.
Chettinad thenkuzhal murukku is ready to enjoy ! Try this for Diwali and share your feedback with me.
