Murukku

Deepavali is celebrated on the fourteenth day of the waning phase of the moon in the month of Kartik , (October-November).The celebration of Deepavali symbolises the aspiration of all Hindus to vanquish the ignorance that subdues humanity and to drive away the darkness that engulfs the light of knowledge.
Hindus believe that it is through light that the beauty of this world is revealed or experienced. Darkness represents ignorance .Therefore, lighting a lamp during Deepavali symbolizes the destruction , through knowledge , of all negative forces.
Traditionally , earthen oil wick lamps are lit. But modern ways demand a faster and less messy alternative. Now, with the flick of a switch , you can instantly light up electric lamps with miniature bulbs. Whatever lighting you use, it will certainly create a mesmerizing atmosphere with their shimmering glow during Deepavali celebrations.

This is a secret recipe of my mum which I am sharing with all of you.This murukku is slightly tedious to prepare as rice flour is being used.You cannot use the rice flour sold in the supermarkets but must have homemade rice flour.Yup, remember tasty things doesn’t come easy .LOL.
But don’t sweat , its actually easy to prepare home made rice flour, soak 7 cups of uncooked rice(for this recipe) , in about 6-7 cups of water .Leave it for about 4 hours .Then slowly drain the raw rice in a colander and leave it to dry slightly on a piece of paper. Start grinding in a blender when the rice is 3/4 dried.Dont wait it to thoroughly dry then you will have difficulty to powder the rice flour. Powder and sieve until all the raw rice have been powdered.Sieve again a second time the rice flour, then its ready to be used.As simple as that!! Left over rice flour can be kept longer if its fried.


You have to have in hand the murukku mould .Try getting it from indian grocery shops.Coat the mould with a bit of oil a few days earlier for easy handling.





6 cups fried rice flour
2 ¾ cup fried urad dhall flour
A bit of hing powder
2 tsp cumin seeds (pounded)(Can add more if desired)
2 tsp sesame seeds (optional)
1 tbsp chilli powder (Can add more if want spicier)
125gms butter
1-2 cup salt water or more ( water plus 2 tsp or more salt, stir until salt dissolve)(Enough salt water to combine the flours into a dough)


Method:
For the urad dhall : Use 3 cups of urad dhall and fry without oil lightly brown. Then powder it .You will get the required amount.
As for the rice flour, as I mention before use home made rice flour .Use fragrant rice (beras wangi) to prepare the rice flour.Fry the raw rice flour until fragrant.When you fry the rice flour the amount will decrease, so its always safe to make extra rice flour .Sieve again the fried rice flour and then measure the required amount.
Its very simple , just combine all the ingredients and mix in with butter .Make it into crumbs.Then use enough salt water to make into a dough. Taste a bit to check whether salt is enough.You can add more in the water if not enough.
Heat about 4 -5 cups of oil . Put some dough into the murukku mould . You can straight mould the dough into the hot oil in circular motion and later , break into small parts or use coasters. Mould the dough into each coaster ,then slowly transfer it into the hot oil.Deep fry until golden brown.Leave to cool before storing.(Refer image below)


Note: Make sure you sieve both the flours twice before using.



Will be giving a rest with blogging for now. Hope fully I will come back with another mouth watering recipe by the end of November. Until then …Happy Deepavali to all my friends and fellow bloggers.


Am sending the above recipe for the event:
WYF:Festive Food-Sept 2009 event hosted by Simple Indian Food