Diwali Recipes |  Crispy South Indian snacks recipes
If you have boys in the house, you know the importance of having munchies in your pantry. Actually coming to think of it, my mom had only girls but still needed to have snacks at all times. So, let me rephrase it this way. If you have foodies/active people in the house,  it becomes necessary to either have a busy kitchen or a big grocery budget or both!
Diwali Recipes |  Crispy South Indian snacks recipes
My little one is at a stage when snacks appeal more than the real food itself.  I am a careful shopper (the husband would say "paranoid") who reads through the ingredients that go into such snacks. And it so happens that 99.9999% of the times, I place the box back in the store aisle.  The mother in me feels very bad at my little one's sad face and so to make up for it, I have taken it upon my self to make as many snacks as feasible right at home.
Diwali Recipes |  Crispy South Indian snacks recipes
Yes, its additional work but since I was the one who bought myself to this situation, I have no choice. But when I started researching and gathering recipes, I found out many creative and healthy snacks that could be put together easily.  The husband is pleased as well since I pack those for his tea time snacks at work as well.
  • Cook time:
  • Prep time:
  • Serves: 4 people
  • Yields: Makes around 650 grams.
Ingredients
  • 500 grams Rice Flour
  • 2 tbsp Urad Dal Flour, see Tips
  • 50 grams unsalted Butter, at room temperature
  • 1 tsp (generous scoop) Cumin Seeds
  • Salt to taste, see Tips
  • Oil for deep frying
Tips
1. Urad Dal Flour: Whole Black lentils (skinned) is dry roasted and ground to fine powder. Its available at any Indian Grocery stores. But in case you cannot find it, its pretty easy to make right at home in matter of minutes. See how to make Urad Dal Flour at home.

2. Salt: The amount of salt varies from person to person hence I have not been specific. But if you want a guideline, I added abt 2-1/2 tsp (almost 1 tbsp) worth of Himalayan Sea Salt. Our sodium intake is pretty minimal (esp. for being Indians) and this was perfect for us.

3. Spice Level: As far as I know, this version does not add any chili powder. But if you love your savories with some heat in it, go ahead - add 1-2 tsp of chilli powder to it. :)
Method
1. Heat oil for deep frying at medium-high heat.
You can use rice flour made right at home. But I tend to use the store bought flour.  In a bowl, sift the flours well.
2. Make sure to sift both the urad and rice flour multiple times.
3. Next add the cumin seeds and salt
4. and mix to combine.
5. Drop the butter
6. and mix it along with the flour to form breadcrumbs.
7. Now slowly add in water, little by little
8. until the flour comes together into a dough. Be careful with water. You want just enough water for the dough to come together.
9. If dry and crumbly, add few additional drops of water. If too sticky it means you have added excess water and your murukku will keep breaking. You would have to add more flour but that might change the taste - so err on the side of less water.
10. Take a chakli mold. If you dont have it, a small piping bag should work as well. I used one star mold, but you can use other shapes as well.
11. Pinch of some dough and place it inside the mold. Now using the top, press the dough through the star shaped hole. You can do this two ways. You can either press it down directly on top of the oil
12. and give it a little shake for the dough to break and fall into the oil. The dough is pretty soft thanks to the butter and will break with a little shake of the mold. Or make random shapes in the oil and when the dough comes to the surface, using a spatula, just break it into smaller pieces.
13. Or, place a oiled spatula -just dip it in the oil you are heating for deep frying, enough to coat it. Now squeeze out some dough on top of it
14. in concentric circles.
15. Now take this spatula and place it in the oil.
16. You will find the murukku easily gets transferred to the oil. There will be lots of bubbles
17. The murukku/Chakli is done when the bubbles just about disappear.
18. Remove and drop it in paper towels.
These crispy delights keep well for a long while - time indeterminable since it has never lasted more than a week in my house, irrespective of how much I make! Cool them before packing in an air tight container. Diwali Recipes |  Crispy South Indian snacks recipes

Recipe Reference

my mom's recipe notes

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14 Comments

By Nanette Winston on Jun 19, 2017

Thanks D.K., can't wait to try this special recipe. This kinda reminds me of some of the street snacks I saw in India. This would be an extra special treat for me to do. Gorgeous and fun to try those Russian pastry tips with. But the chakli molds look perfect. I'm going to have to find one. What else to do use the urad dal flour for? Anyway, thanks!

I use it make another raita type dish called Dangar Pachadi :) --DK

By RABIA NABI on Nov 22, 2015

Can oil be used instead of butter?

By Varsha on Nov 16, 2015

what should be deep-frying oil temperature? I want to precisely control it by some means.

Around 350F mark should be good. --DK

By Pragnyaa on Nov 10, 2015

Thank you so much for the recipe! I have made many dishes from your site and have spread the word to different parts of the world :) This deepavali was fantastic with the murukku and besan ladoo, from your recipes. I wasn't so successful with the the beautiful shapes like you have for the murukku but next time will do it on the spatula, which I noticed after the fact

By nada on Apr 10, 2015

Hi....i tried to make uer recipe.....but unfortunately wen i put the dough into the oil....the dough was jz melting to the oil :(...i i thought that it may be coz of my oil(used sunflower)changef oil to oliv oil thn also it gave me same result...again i tried with coconut oil...still the result is same....why is it so??i used fresh rice flour(white rice)....can u help me to correct this..i wanna have this very badly....sinc i wont get muruk here in the market ;(...thanks

By Anju on Feb 7, 2015

Hello!!! I have a small problem when I used rice flour to make the chakli it tends to break while I'm pressing it through the mould while with gram flour it comes out perfectly.... Can you please tell me why?' thank You.

By Narmi on Dec 20, 2014

wonderfull! reciepe, it was taste..... any one can try....;

By Haju Aidroos on Dec 17, 2014

Yummy! must try!!

By kiran chetri millet on Dec 17, 2014

:lol: thanks

By Drey on Oct 4, 2014

This looks good. I want to try it soon. :-D I am glad it doesn't call for chili powder as I am allergic to chili peppers. :(

By Ashwini bhat on Sep 26, 2014

i tried this recipe came out very well.

By NT on Sep 22, 2014

How to reduce salt after i mixed it?

By Sun on Sep 13, 2014

Thank you!!

By Sun on Sep 12, 2014

Hi DK, Thank you for the recipe, what oil do you use for deep-frying ?

Sesame oil/ grapeseed oil/ organic non gmo canola oil --DK