Thenguzhal Murukku

Thenguzhal Murukku

Festival Savouries / Sweets 50 comments

Thenguzhal Murukku – a traditional and popular festive savoury / snack made with rice flour and urad dhal flour. Thenguzhal murukku is most often made during festive occasions like Diwali and Krishna Jayanthi. The highlight of this thenguzhal murukku is the crunchiness, unsymmetrical shape and flavour derived from simple ingredients. This festive snack is a delight to munch along with tea / coffee and is very addictive.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 – 40 minutes

Yield: Around 20 thenguzhal murukkus

Ingredients:

Rice Flour2 cups
Urad dhal flour 1/4 th cup
Jeera / Cumin seeds1 1/2 teaspoon
Hing / Asafoetida1/4 th teaspoon
Salt1 1/2 teaspoon
Butter4 teaspoon
Oilfor deep frying

Step by Step Instructions:

  • To prepare Urad dhal flour: Take about 1/4 th cup of urad dhal (white) and dry roast in a pan in low heat until it is warm enough. Do not allow the urad dhal to change colour. Roast it until the urad dhal is warm enough to touch. Cool and grind it to a fine powder. Sieve the urad dhal flour to get rid of small lumps and discard the residue. (You can also use store bought urad dhal flour).

  • Rice Flour – Sieve the rice flour to get rid of small lumps.
  • To make the dough -Take a big bowl and add 2 cups rice flour, 1/4 th cup urad dhal flour, 11/2 tsp jeera, 1/4 tsp hing, 11/2 tsp salt and finally 4 teaspoons of melted butter. Mix well. Now add water little by little and knead it into a soft non-sticky dough. See that there are no cracks in the dough. Close the bowl with a lid to prevent the dough from drying.

  • Heat enough oil in the kadai for deep frying.
  • Meanwhile, grease the thenguzal murukku press with oil. This will prevent the dough to stick to the sides. I have used 3 hole attachment plate for making the thenguzhal murukku. You can also use one hole attachment.
  • Take a small portion of dough and fill the murukku press with the dough.
  • Take a ladle as shown below. Using the murukku press, squeeze gently without break and move gently side to side to get the desired shape. Instead of using the ladle, you can squeeze the dough using the murukku press directly into the oil. I strongly recommend using a ladle since this will prevent your hands /palms from direct heat.
  • Check the oil if it is warm enough. A simple tip to test if the oil is ready enough for deep frying — Drop a small pinch of dough into the oil. If the dough rises to the top immediately, then the oil is warm enough to deep fry.
  • Insert the ladle with the murukku into the oil. Repeat this step to make as much murukkus the kadai can hold. Do not overcrowd the kadai as this will distort the shape of the murukku.
  • Deep fry in medium flame. Flip sides and deep fry until the sizzling sound subsides.
  • Use a ladle with holes to take the murukku from the kadai. Drain the excess oil using a paper towel.
  • Allow the thenguzhal murukku to cool down to room temperature. Store them in an airtight container.

Notes:

  • If your murukku breaks while squeezing the dough or if it breaks while deep frying in oil, it is possible that the rice flour or the urad flour you used have small lumps in it. It is always better to use good quality finely ground rice flour and urad dhal flour. Sieve the flour so that you can get rid of small lumps even if it seems invisible.
  • If the dough is too tight, then it leads to breaking of the murukku. You might alo find it very hard to squeeze the dough using the press. So add little water to the dough and knead it again to get a decent shape murukku.
  • To get whitish thenguzhal murukku – Use the best quality rice flour. Use butter (as mentioned instead of oil ) to make the dough. While making the urad dhal flour, do not roast the urad dhal to brown as this might impart a brownish tinge to the murukku when deep fried.
  • If you are making murukku in bulk, it is better to do in batches as resting the dough for too long might lead to browning of the murukku.
  • Do not overheat the oil as this might also lead to browning and charring of the thenguzhal murukku.

ToStep by Step Instructions:

50 comments

    1. Thanks a lot Mousumi for your generous and kind words. It is one of the easiest savory that can be prepared Mousumi. With practice you will get the correct shape.

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  5. You have explained it in a very easy & simple way Sowmya 🙂 Have never tried with rice flour… look forward to making it for Diwali 🙂 Happy Diwali to you and yours!

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  20. Pingback: Snack recipes - #1 Murukku & Thattai - Learning Thursdays

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