Pages

Monday, March 04, 2013

Crisp murukku

The hostel I stayed has this rule wherein all students stay in a common room for the first few months. Common rooms are allotted based on the batch, year and course of study. So the 7 girls who joined the course I enrolled for got to share a room. Kerala is notorious for its power cuts. Even before the rest of the country woke up to the reality of power cuts, we were used to having no power twice a day for half an hour each. Joining a new course, sharing a room with no fans(or was there one fan?) with seven other girls, trying to read a book in the dim glow of the yellow bulb in low voltage - all this might not seem very appealing, but believe me, when I think back, I hardly remember the lack of creature comforts. What I remember is making 2 minute Maggi for an hour in a kettle that took forever to boil water because of the low voltage, using an iron box to roast papads(trust me....it works.....though I would recommend cleaning the iron really well before using it on your clothes again), eating your friend's dates pickle with bread at midnight because you just felt like it, staying out well past midnight on days there was a fest in the university and days when there weren't any, eating at thattukadas(roadside eateries on wheels) and drinking tea at all times of the day. Though our hostel food was nothing to write home about, all seven of us piled our plates high with rice, helped ourselves to the watery brown thing that passed off for sambar, the vegetable that was usually decent and then, we added our secret ingredient which we hoarded and ate a little of every day - something that was packed with love from home. It could be dates pickle one day, beetroot pickle the next, Vathal kozhambu mix, paruppu podi or curry leaves powder another day - and it is these little parcels of food from home that ensured that our taste buds didn't die a slow death brought on by the sourest yoghurt that mankind ever saw. I got into the habit of eating murukku or ribbon pakoda with rice during my years in the hostel. There were days when bread, jam and murukku translated into a tasty breakfast. This murukku that I am sharing with you today is tasty, crisp and keeps well for a long time if stored in an air tight box.


What you need: (Recipe source : 100 murukkus and mixtures - Mallika Badrinath)
Rice flour - 1 cup
Bengal gram flour/besan - 1 cup
Roasted gram flour/pottukadala maavu - 1 cup
Salt - to taste
Red chilli powder - to taste
Sesame seeds - 1 tbsp
Vegetable shortening/vanaspati - 1.5 tbsp
Water
Oil - for deep frying(I used Fortune Rice Bran Health oil which I have reviewed here)

Take all the flours in a large mixing bowl.  Add the vegetable shortening and blend well with your finger tips until the flour is crumbly.

 A test to know if you have added enough shortening is to shape the flour into a ball after mixing the shortening well. If it holds its shape you have added enough fat.
 
Add sesame seeds, salt and red chilli powder. Mix well.
 












Now add water little by little and knead to thick dough.
Using the three star shaped disc, prepare small murukkus on a polythene sheet.

Once you have four or five, deep fry them in hot oil.

Drain off excess oil and once completely cool, store in an airtight container.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#26
This post is a part of Healthy & Tasty Recipe Contest with Fortune Rice Bran Health Oil & BlogAdda.com 
This goes to Kamalika who is hosting Kids' Delight, brain child of Srivalli, themed on Back to Hostel Food.


23 comments:

vaishali sabnani said...

This is just like the Maharashtrian chakli...looks really crunchy!

Ms.Chitchat said...

Crispy and crunchy murukkus, love to have them with a hot cup of coffee, nice clicks.

Chef Mireille said...

so nice and crispy

Priya Suresh said...

Crunchy munchy murukkus, love to have some with a cup of masala chai.

Priya Srinivasan - I Camp in My Kitchen said...

Murukku's anytime dear!!! we love to have it with rasam saadam!!! :)

Rajani S said...

Ironing pappads? Thats absolutely innovative and totally new to me!

The murukku looks good!

Vimitha Durai said...

Looks so crispy. perfect for chaai

AJ said...

Love murukku with a hot cup of tea!!

veena said...

lovely crispy murukku...nice clicks..wish to have some:-)

Srivalli said...

Such lovely memories Jay, I was imagining how wonderful that time must have been! Imagine with kids now, even with so many comforts, they feel bored with no power. Murukkus are my all time favorite..so can understand how must have been for somebody to eat the hostel food. You really had a grand time!

Gayathri Kumar said...

Murukku is my all time fav snack. Very nice step wise snaps and an interesting write up about hostel life...

The Pumpkin Farm said...

very nice post, makes me nostalgic about my school and college days, murukkus look good

Sandhya Ramakrishnan said...

It was lot of fun reading about your hostel days. Never stayed away from home, but now after marriage, being so far away also seems the same way. I still wait for these yummy murukkus when someone comes from India :) very well made..

Harini R said...

Wow lovely murukkus! Making papads with an iron..I bet such creative ideas strike only when you are desperate :)

Akila said...

Lovely n crispy murukkus...

Event: Dish name starts with R till April 15th

Unknown said...

yum yum and so perfect with coffee!!
Sowmya
Ongoing Event - What is with my Cuppa
Ongoing Event - HITS - Diabetic Friendly

Manju said...

Even though food is not good hope you enjoyed hostel cooking. Your muruku is tempting me to prepare some.

Pavani said...

Iron to roast a papad, now that's something totally innovative. LOL for "Making 2 minute Maggi for an hour". Loved reading your college memories.
Murukkus look crunchy & delicious.

Suma Gandlur said...

Never heard about the trick of roasting papad over an iron box. Loved reading about your hostel life.
Those are crunchy murukku. I never used besan and chutney dal powder together in besan but love to give it a try.

Shylaja said...

Murukku looks perfect and delicious. Nice explanation with pictures. You made me nostalgic about my hostel days

Kalyani said...

oh Jay ! you are tempting me way too much to ask mom to make me these ;-) Reminds me of the goodies my pati used to make and treat us during evening snack time !

Corporate to Kitchen said...

These murukkus are looking so nice! Crisp, fresh & mouthwatering:)

Anonymous said...

Crispy and crunchy.. looks yummy..