A Pearly Snack Delight

The savory snack item that was the challenge for Srivalli's ICC this month was truly unique...the Sago Murukku (Indian-style fritters) were very attractive with the pearl-like sago popping up here and there in the murukku...was a great experience for me...especially because I dont use frying as a cooking technique  much any more...it  is usually baking or stir-frying nowadays...so this challenge was a great reassurance to myself that I still know how to make fried foods:)))

So, what is Murukku? According to all-knowing Wikipedia...Murukku (Tamil: முறுக்கு, or Muruku in Telugu or Murkoo), known as Chakli in Marathi and Kannada and Chakri in Gujarati, is a savoury snack popular in India, Sri Lanka, Fiji, and elsewhere among ethnic Indian populations. Murukku is believed to have originated in Tamil Nadu[1][2], with the town of Manapparai & Karamadai best known for it. Murukku is typically made from a mixture of urad and rice flour, salt, and flavourings such as chili, asafoetida, ajawain, or cumin

The special notes/learning experiences for me with this recipe for Sago Muruku was that it ended up being better to use a relatively not-too-moist/not-too sticky dough...this way the murukku ended up being crisp...also, it actually ended up taking nearly 8 - 10 hours for the sago to soak up the buttermilk and become really soft. The end-result was very much to all our liking...very pearlescent and cute...and very crunchy indeed.

I cant wait to try out next month's challenge!

Recipe for Sago Murukku(Indian-style fritters)

Prep time: 15 mins.

Cook time: 30 mins.

Ingredients:

Rice Flour 2 cups

Besan flour 1/2 cup

Fried gram flour - 1/2 cup

Sago - 1/2 cup

Salt to taste

Curd - 50 gms (half of half cup)

Chile powder - 1/2 tsp or as per taste

Special Utensil:

Muruku Achu/mould

Method to prepare

Soak Sago in Butter milk for atleast 3 hrs(took me 8-10 hrs), please ensure that you soak it enough else you may risk having the sago burst.

Mix all the flour together, heat 50 gms oil, mix to the flour along with salt and chili powder. Then add the buttermilk soaked sago slowly and knead to a chapati dough consistency

Heat oil for deep frying.In the muruku achu, add the dough. When the oil is hot, press down directly as as murukus.

Cook on medium flame to ensure the muruku is cooked well.

Notes:

Ensure sago soaks in buttermilk well and is soft or else it will burst when you press it down in hot oil.

Cook on medium flame to ensure even cooking.

Fried Gram flour is fried channa dal that is available commercially. It is general sold as the dal, we have to powder it at home. This is also referred as chutney dal as it is used in making coconut chutney.