Murukku

Where does murukku come from?

The word comes from the Tamil for twisted, and murukku is made in homes across Tamil Nadu above all for Diwali, along with other festive savouries. It is also tied to Manapparai in the Tiruchirappalli district, a town long known for its murukku. Kai murukku is the hand-twisted version, a skilled craft that takes years of practice. This recipe uses a press, which is how most homes do it. Maharashtra has a close relative in chakli, which is often made from a roasted multigrain flour called bhajani.

The technique: ratio, dough and oil

Rice flour gives crispness and urad flour gives lightness and a nutty flavour. Home ratios run from about four to eight parts rice to one part urad by volume, and this recipe uses eight, for a pale and very crisp murukku. Too much urad and the murukku browns quickly and tastes heavy. The butter gives a short, crumbly bite, and it must be measured. It is not a place to be generous, since excess fat weakens the dough and makes the spiral dissolve in the oil.

Roast the urad dal yourself if you can. Dry-roast it over a low flame until golden and fragrant, about 6 minutes, cool it and grind it fine, then sieve it. Fine rice flour is essential too, and if yours feels coarse, sieve it, or the murukku will be gritty. Oil temperature is the last step: medium heat, steady. Murukku fried too cool takes on oil, and when fried too hot it browns outside and stays raw and hard within.

What goes wrong, and how do you rescue it?

If the rope breaks as it leaves the press, the dough has dried out, so work a few teaspoons of warm water through it. Keep the rest of the dough covered as you work. If the spirals fall apart in the oil, there is too much butter or water in the dough. Add a spoonful of rice flour and try again with one spiral. If they turn out hard and dense, there was too little fat or too much kneading, and if they are oily, the oil was not hot enough.

Spitting oil is a real safety matter. It usually comes from wet dough, a wet spoon or sesame seeds that pop, so keep everything dry near the kadhai and use only a modest amount of sesame. If you are new to this, fry one spiral first and stand well back. Never leave hot oil unattended, keep children away from the stove, and if the oil ever smokes, turn the flame off right away. In case of a pan fire, cover it with a metal lid and never use water.

Substitutions, and is there a lighter version?

Ghee can replace butter one for one, and it tastes wonderful. Hot oil works as a vegan swap, with 2 tablespoons poured in and mixed well, though the bite is a little harder. Roasted gram flour (pottukadalai maavu) or besan can stand in for urad flour, and these are common family variations. Asafoetida usually contains wheat flour, so buy a labelled gluten-free packet if needed. Murukku can be baked or air-fried, but this is a different snack, drier and paler, so make your peace with that first. A more honest way of eating lighter is to fry smaller spirals and eat fewer. If you want something crunchy for every day, roasted makhana or masala peanuts are better habits.

What goes with murukku?

A cup of filter coffee or masala chai is all it needs. At Diwali it goes on the festive plate beside besan ladoo and Mysore pak. It is also a good thing to bring to a train journey or to give as a gift, since it travels well and keeps.

Storing

Kept completely dry in a clean airtight steel or glass tin, murukku stay crisp at room temperature for 2 to 3 weeks. Use a dry hand to take them out. If a batch softens, spread it on a baking tray and warm it at 140 degrees Celsius for about 8 minutes, or warm it for a few minutes in a dry kadhai over a low flame, then cool it fully before sealing. Cooled frying oil can be strained and used once more for the same kind of food, but discard oil that smells stale or has turned dark.