Challa murkulu is a deep-fried snack made with rice flour and sour curd. Murukulu are the best tea-time snacks. Generally, murukulu are deep-fried savoury.
We make murukulu with different varieties of flour. We keep the flour readily available in our pantry. But sometimes it may not happen so challa murukulu comes in handy at such times. Smooth and soft dough is made with rice flour and sour curd to make challa murukulu. Adding sesame seeds and ajwain gives challa murkulu a nice flavour.
About the recipe:
Challa murukulu is made using rice flour and sour curd. We can always use store-bought rice flour and curd too. I prefer to get rice flour done in a flour mill near my house. But if it is not available we can always use a store-bought one also. Curd, also I use only homemade, but to get a better sour taste use store-bought ones only. I prefer to add red chilli powder but our elders use it to add green chilli paste or extract juice out of it and use it to get a spicy flavour.
Challa murukulu can be stored for a month in an airtight container. We need not refrigerate them at all. Muruku is a Tamil word meaning ‘twisted.’ So, it is obvious that the shape of the snack is round and spirally.
Some names of the Muruku in other regional languages are jantikalu/chakralu in Telugu, dantkali in Odiya, chakkuli in Kannada, Chakli in Marathi and chakri in Gujarati. The ingredients may differ from one another. Normally murukulu are made in large quantities and stored for a longer period. They are made mainly during festival days.
Muruku press or muruku mould is the main equipment we use to make murkulu. We get different varieties of muruku press also. Gun type, pressing, and also twisting. I prefer to use gun types or twisting ones. They are very easy to handle. Pressing murukku mould needs a lot of energy to press.
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Challa murkulu recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups Rice Flour
- 1 tbsp Red Chilli Powder
- 1/2 tsp Carom Seeds/Ajwain
- 1 tsp Til/Sesame Seeds
- Salt to Taste
- Oil for Frying
- 1 1/2 Cup Sour Curd
Instructions
- Add rice flour, salt, and red chilli powder to a wide mixing plate or bowl.
- Add ajwain and sesame seeds too.
- Combine all of them together well.
- Whisk sour curd to make it thinner.
- Add whisked curd to the above rice flour mixture.
- Add little by little and mix it well.
- Once the curd is mixed well with the rice flour, add water slowly.
- While adding water gradually mix the rice flour and make a smooth dough.
- Keep kneading while adding water.
- Make smooth and pliable dough of it.
- Knead the dough until there won't be any cracks.
- Cover it with a damp cloth for 15 minutes.
- We get different sizes and varieties of perforated plates to make janthikalu.
- Fix one of them with the janthikalu maker. I prefer to use medium size holes plate.
- Grease murukku mould with oil.
- Knead a small portion of the dough and place it in the murukku mould.
- Gently place the top spindle over it and screw it.
- Using the lever on top of the murukku mould, press the dough to get murukku.
- Heat enough oil for frying in a kadai.
- Check the heat of the oil by dropping a small piece of the dough.
- If the oil starts sizzling means oil is enough hot for frying murukku.
- Slowly and carefully press the murukku into the hot oil.
- If you are scared of the oil heat, you can always press murukku in a dry cloth or on a plate.
- Then drop it in the hot oil using a spatula. Let the murukku cook on a low to medium flame.
- Turn it and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes or until the desired colour is reached. Remove from heat and transfer the murukku onto a kitchen tissue.
- Repeat the same way with rest of the dough.
- Serve challa murukku with a hot cup of coffee or tea.
Notes
- Knead the dough well to get a nice crispy muruku.
- Always use sour curd only.
- I always make curd at home so I will have it in my house around the clock.
- If you do not have curd at home you can always get it from outside.
