Murukku means “Twisted” in Tamil Language. Murukku is a south Indian savory snack of crispy and crunchy in taste, made from rice and urad dal flour. You can make murukku in different ways with rice as main ingredient. Varieties differs by the addition of gram flour or roasted gram flour or urad dal flour or peanut flour in addition to rice. I already posted mullu murukku recipe in my blog.
This Thenkuzhal Murukku recipe is one of my childhood favorite snack and my mom makes the best murukku for diwali. I wanted to post this recipe for long time but I don’t have the murukku plate, so I asked my mom to make this murukku for my blog. Below murukku recipe is made by my mom and she also send some pictures of the recipe taken by my sister in law (subha). Thank you amma and subha for this tasty recipe and mouthwatering photographs..Try this thenkuzhal murukku recipe for diwali and enjoy 🙂

தேன்குழல்  முறுக்கு

Ingredients

1 Cup of Rice Flour
1/4 Cup of Urad Dal Flour
1/2 Tsp of Whole Cumin Seeds
1/2 Tsp of Sesame Seeds
Pinch of Asafoetida (Hing)
1 Tbsp of Hot Oil
1 Tbsp of Butter
Salt and Water as needed

     Method

• In a bowl, add rice flour, urad dal flour, whole cumin, sesame seeds, asafoetida, butter, hot oil and salt, mix well. Add water little by little to form a soft, non sticky dough without any cracks.
• Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan to deep fry the murukku.
• Grease the murukku press with oil, place the murukku plate in the press, then place the dough.
• Grease the ladle with oil, press the murukku press to make murukku over the laddle in the form of circle.
• To test the oil, just drop a small ball of dough, if it rises up, your frying oil is ready.
• Drop the murukku from the laddle into the hot oil, fry them in medium flame until it turns golden color.
• Cook both the sides until  “Sssh” sounds goes off. Take the murukku carefully from pan, drain them in paper towel, let it cool down for sometime and store it in an airtight container.

 Tips

• Here I used store bought rice and urad dal flour.
• Butter gives a nice flavor and taste.
• Addition of hing is for easy digestion.
• Make sure you keep the dough covered throughout to avoid  drying of the dough.
• If your murukku is hard, then the amount of oil is not enough in the dough.

           Kanchipuram Idly / Kanjeevaram Idly / Kanchi Idly is a nice variation to regular rice idly (steamed rice cakes). The name originated from the place called Kanchipuram in Tamilnadu, famous for temples and pattu (Hand woven silk) sarees. This idly is mildly spiced and steamed. Addition of spices and ghee gives a nice aroma and taste to the idly. But these idlies are traditionally steamed in dhonnai (dried leaf cups),  hence they are also called kudalai idly, which adds an extraordinary fragrance and taste to the idly. Since I didn’t get dhonai in my place, I used idly cooker to steam this Kancheepuram idly. So start your day with this protein rich healthy breakfast. It goes well with peanut chutney or mint coconut chutney or idly podi.

    Makes : 20 Idlies

    Ingredients

            2 Cups of Idly Rice / Raw Rice
            1 Cup of Urad Dal
            3 Tbsp of Bengal Gram / Chenna Dal
            1/2 Cup of Thick Yogurt (Curd)
            1.5 Tsp of Whole Cumin
            1.5 Tsp of Whole Pepper
            1 Green Chilly, Finely Chopped
            1 Tsp of Grated Ginger
            Handful of Curry Leaves
            2 Tbsp of Ghee (Melted Butter) / Oil
            Salt to Taste

    Method

• Soak the rice and dal in water separately for 3-4 hrs.
• In a blender (mixie) or grinder, wash the urad dal and grind it to a fine batter, remove it and transfer this to a bowl.
• In the same blender, grind the idly rice to a coarse consistency like rava texture. Finally add the urad dal batter to ground rice and grind it for another 5 mins. Transfer this batter to a bowl, add salt and mix well. Your batter should be thick, not watery. Let it ferment for 12 hrs. As I am in US, It took 20 hrs to ferment.
• Soak bengal gram in water for 30-40 mins, drain the water and add it to the batter. Add beaten curds, whole cumin, green chilly, whole pepper, grated ginger, ghee, and salt, mix well.
• Grease the idly plates or tumbler with oil, pour the batter to the idly plates and steam it for 20 mins.  Once it done, turn off the heat and remove the idly plate, let it sit in counter top for 5 mts. Remove the idlis carefully with a spatula and serve hot with peanut chutney or Mint Coconut Chutney.

   Tips

• The batter should be coarse like rava (sooji) and thick.
• Adjust the spiciness according to your taste. 
• You can make idly with idly plates or tumbler or small cups or big stainless bowl or dhonnai, make sure you greased well with oil before pouring the batter.
• Here I used tumblers to make idly, just pour the batter into the tumbler and keep it in a idly plate, but you can place only one plate in a idly cooker.

• If your are using big stainless bowl with batter, use pressure cooker, in that case don’t use weight, just cover it with lid. Finally slice it like cake and have it.

• Use fresh curd to make this idly.
• You can also saute the spices in oil, before adding them to batter.

    Health Benefits of  Rice, Urad Dal And Bengal Gram

• Lentils are high in fiber and protein, and low in fat. Eating lentils and other foods that are rich in soluble dietary fiber can help decrease high cholesterol
  A dish of  rice with dal gives you carbohydrates, protein, fiber and fats for a healthy, balanced meal. The rice provides carbohydrates for quick-release energy & aids in digestion.
• Urad dal is rich in protein and good for heart.