You're Never Too Old to Enjoy Murukku!!

Pretzels, potato chips, and Chex Mix are some examples of crunchy and fun snacks we all enjoy!

However, have you ever tried Indian snacks? Most Indian snacks are also gluten-free. Some examples are Murukku or Chakralu, Pappuchekkalu, Corn Flakes Mixture, and nutty pakoda. 

Whenever my relatives from India visit, they always bring these tasty and spicy snacks for us. It feels like Christmas but instead of presents, we receive snacks! I'm a big fan of edible presents any day! 

Murukku is a pretzel-like Indian snack. I love murukku because they are light and crunchy. Besides using gluten-free flours, you can also add ajwain seeds, whole cumin, or sesame into the mix. Every ingredient adds more flavor and taste to these snacks. 

Aren't you curious how we make this snack? Let's take a look:

Ingredients for the Dough:
- 3-1/2 cups rice flour

- 1 cup Roasted chana dal, finely powdered

- 1 tbsp Ajwain or Carom seeds

- 2 to 3 tsp chili powder
- 3 tbsp sesame seeds (optional)
- 2 pinches of Hing (Asafoetida)

- 5 tsp salt

- 3 tbsp Vegetable oil, lukewarm (to mix into the dough)

- Water (as needed to mix flours into a tight dough, not sticky or wet)

Utensils needed:

Kitchen Press (use the single star disc in the press)

Large mixing bowl

Frying pan

Slotted ladle

Mesh strainer

Ingredients for Frying:

- 2 to 3 cups Vegetable oil 

Procedure

1) Sieve together rice flour and chana dal powder into a large mixing bowl, and then add the dry ingredients as listed above. Mix well and adjust the salt and chili powder at this time by tasting a pinch of the mixture. 

2) Next, add the warm vegetable oil into the mixture and coat it well. Slowly, add water to the flour until it forms into a soft and tight lump, but it's not sticky. Keep the dough covered. 

3) Insert the single star disc into the kitchen press. Take a handful of dough, and form a log and insert it into the press cylinder and then close the cylinder with the screw-on cap. 

Make murukku in spiral design starting from the center and then circling and towards outward circle to the desired size on a greased plate or on wax paper. Cover all the spirals with a towel until you have made 10 to 15 or so to fry.  

4) Heat the oil for frying until you feel the heat when you place your palm at a safe height above the frying pan. Test the heat by dropping a small ball of dough into the oil. If the ball sizzles and surfaces to the top, then it is ready. 

Slowly insert approximately 10 murukkus (reduce the number based on your frying pan size) into the oil and fry them until golden brown by turning them over in between for uniform frying. 

Remove them from oil using a slotted ladle and put them into a mesh strainer for the oil to drain further. Later transfer into a container. 

5) Cool them for 10 to 15 minutes to attain the proper crunchiness to serve. Store them in a tight lid container after it is cooled for 1 hour. Makes approximately 30 to 40 murukkus. It is best to store this snack in a tight lid container and can be enjoyed for 15 to 20 days. 

I like stacking my murukku or chakralu as high as I can before I pop them into my mouth. How do you enjoy murukku? 

Turning Up The Heat with Chili Poppers!!

You know what I miss most about "my India". The street food. And I don't mean like lamb brains or anything weird, like what you see on the travel shows. I'm referring to snacks like bhel puri, aloo tikki chaat, aloo papadi chaat, samosa chaat, and one of my favorites: chili poppers also known as chili pakora.

The chili poppers are made with long green chili peppers, which are usually stuffed with masala and batter fried.
As a kid, I used to love eating the fried batter part since the peppers were too spicy for me. But now I'm all grown up and I love eating every bit of the popper including the pepper. Woohoo, I've matured and figured out the best part of this snack. Either that or my mom figured out a way to get me to eat the peppers with her winning recipe. Isn't my mom the bestest!! For my recent birthday, she made these chili poppers and I ate like 10 of them in one sitting. They were that good!

Heat Seekers, come thither and try these spicy chili poppers...if you have what it takes!!

Ingredients:
- 10 Long Green Chilies (fresh, firm and straight)
- 2 cups of Vegetable Oil (for frying only)
  For the stuffing:
  - ¼ cup of Dry Coconut Powder
  - 1 ½ tsp of Dhan-Jeera powder
  - 1 tsp of Tamarind paste
  - ¼ tsp Salt (adjust to your taste)
  For the batter:
  - 1 ½ cups of Ladu Besan (flour)
  - ½ cup of Fine Besan (flour)
  - ¼ cup of Rice flour
  - 1 tsp of Ajwain seeds (also known as carom seeds, similar to thyme)
  - ¼ tsp of Red chili powder
  - ½ tsp of Salt (adjust to taste)
  - ¼ tsp of Soda Bicarbonate powder (cooking soda)

Procedure:
Make a slit into the green chilies length wise and carefully remove all the seeds. (Making sure not to cut till the very end.) Boil water in a big pot sufficient enough for you to dip the chilies into the water and remove from heat. Close the pot with a lid and allow it to stand for 10 minutes. Drain the chilies, making sure to remove all water. In a microwaveable bowl, measure out the dry coconut powder, add some water to moisten it and heat it with closed lid for 30-40 seconds. Remove from microwave and then mix it together with dhanjeera powder, tamarind paste and salt.

 

Take a teaspoon full of the mixture and stuff it into the chilies.

Click here to see video on how to stuff the peppers

Make sure not to over stuff them. (Hint: You should be able to close the slit once stuffed with masala.) In a medium sized bowl, mix all the dry ingredients for the batter and add water to make it into a pancake mix like consistency. Allow the batter to soak for at least 10-15 minutes. Heat oil in a frying pan. When you feel the heat from the oil on your palm from above the pan, you are ready for frying. Take each stuffed chili pepper, dip into the batter and coat it completely. Then slowly drop each one into the hot oil. Fry them until golden brown by turning each one over for even frying.

You are now ready to enjoy these spicy poppers. Kick it up a notch by slitting them open and stuffing them with finely chopped onions and a few drops of lime juice. They are sure to hit any one's spicy spot! Enjoy with a nice cold one!!

***Quick Tips:

- For all you Serious Heat Seekers, go ahead and leave the seeds in for a spicier kick.