Murukku Recipe

Murukku also known as Murukulu is a crunchy and flavorsome deep fried snack made with rice flour, dal flour and spices. In South India, Murukku is traditionally prepared during festivals like Diwali, Sankranti and Dasara/ Vijayadashami. In this post I share the recipe to make the classic version of Murukku that are not only crunchy and delicious but are also downright addictive. You will also find many troubleshooting tips for making the dough, shaping and frying the murukku perfectly.

About Murukku

Murukku is a South Indian round spiral shaped fried snack made with rice flour, urad dal flour and basic spices like red chilli powder, hing, sesame seeds, salt and ajwain. The name “Murukku” is derived from a Tamil word for twisted. Since the dough is twisted to make round shaped spirals, it is known as murukku.

These are also known as Murukulu and chakralu in Andra Pradesh. The same dough made in concentric layers is known as jantikalu. Chakli is a similar snack made in Karnataka and Maharashtra but the ingredients are different.

Though traditionally Murukku is made with rice and urad dal flour, you will find the modified versions/recipes with many different kinds of cereal grains, lentils and nuts.

Since these are also a popular tea-time snack made all-around the year in South Indian homes, many home cooks have come up with their own versions where you will even find ingredients like coconut milk, roasted peanut paste, yogurt and spiced buttermilk being used to make the dough.

Found in many Bakeries and farsan shops across the South, you will be surprised at the numerous murukku flavors available. There are many versions of these spiral savories, each tastier than the previous.

Why Homemade?

But homemade is the best because we have the option to use the best organic ingredients especially oil. Homemade murukku stay fresh longer than the store bought ones.

Murukku maker Vs Plastic Bag

To make these at home we need a murukku maker which is easily available online or you can simply use a plastic or piping bag. Also most Indian stores have them. With the plastic bags, you can make the murukku much the same way but they won’t have the mullu on them.

Murukku is made with the murukku maker using specific discs that have a star shaped hole through which the dough is released when we press down the murukku maker.

My recipe

This is an old and classic recipe followed by many South Indian home cooks and can be made in two ways. One is the traditional murukku style with closed spirals. The other is the concentric layers of jantikalu.

It is both similar to Karnataka style chakli as both use rice flour, but different as it contains urad dal flour instead of fried gram or chatni dal flour. It uses minimal spices unlike the normal chakli.

This tasty, fried snack stays fresh for a month, if you store it properly. Pack it for road trips or picnics, and simply munch on the go.

More murukku recipes
Karasev
Thattai recipe
Sweet muruku
Ribbon pakoda
Omapodi/ sev
Chakli

You may like to check this collection of Diwali snacks recipes and Diwali Sweets recipes.

How to make Murukku (stepwise photos)

Prepare the ingredients

Skip this dry roasting instruction if you’re using chutney dal or fried gram (pottukadalai). Powder 3 tablespoons of roasted gram or fried gram. Use the exact amount of fried gram powder as stated in the recipe – 3 tablespoons. Reserve the remaining for using in chutneys or in stir fry veggies.

1. Clean and dry roast ¼ cup or 4 tablespoons of urad dal on medium heat. Roasting is highly recommended to prevent the murukku from becoming chewy instead of crunchy after a couple of days a day or two.

2. Keep stirring the urad dal for even roasting. When the dal turns light golden brown and aromatic, remove from heat. We don’t want to over roast and risk burning the dal.

3. Cool the roasted dal and add to a blender or grinder.

4. Powder it to a fine flour. If the flour is coarse and not fine, the murukku will not be as crunchy or the murukku will break as you shape them. Measure and use only ¼ cup urad dal flour. You will have a little excess which you can add to any fritter batter.

Make the murukku dough

5. Add 1 cup of rice flour and 4 tablespoons of the ground urad dal flour (or 3 tablespoons of roasted gram flour) to a mixing bowl. To this add:
¾ teaspoon of carom seeds/ajwain (omam/ vammu)
½ teaspoon chilli powder (optional)
¾ teaspoon of sesame seeds/til (optional)
1/8 teaspoon of asafetida/hing (optional)
½ teaspoon of salt

I didn’t add sesame seeds or red chili as my little kid cannot eat spicy food.

6. Mix everything to combine. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a small kadai and pour it into the flour mixture. Hot oil provides your murukku with a light texture. Mix again to combine with a spoon.

7. Slowly add water, start with 3 tablespoons, and keep mixing to form a dough. Add more water, 1 teaspoon at a time, as required. Make a firm but pliable dough. The dough should be non-sticky but at the same time it should not be crumbly or dry. If the dough is sticky, add a little flour and knead again. Or Add a few drops of water and mix again if it is dry.

8. If the dough is sticky and soggy, it will absorb lot of oil while frying. If the dough is very dry, then murukku strands will break when you press them in shapes.

9. Grease the murukku mould, fit in the the star muruku disc or plate. Stuff enough dough inside (up to ¾ the mould) and keep it ready.

Shape murukku

10. Press the murukku maker to release the dough and shape the dough to spirals using circular hand motions on parchment, muslin cloth or aluminum foil. Make more murukulu and cover to prevent them from drying out. Start from the inner center and move your hand in clockwise direction to make a spiral, similar to making chakli (watch the video for the exact procedure).

11. I prefer to use small cuts of butter paper for convenience, as it is easy to lift each murukku and drop into oil to fry.

12. If you are a beginner cook, you can also make these on steel spatulas. A holed/slotted spatula works better.

Frying the murukku

13. Heat 2½ to 3 cups of oil in a large thick bottomed pan or kadai on medium high. When the oil is hot enough, drop a small piece of dough in it. If it rises fast without browning, the oil is well heated. Gently place the murukku spatula in the oil. The murukku will automatically come out from the spatula when it is getting fried.

14. If you’ve made these on cloth or foil, lift them gently and drop one murukku at a time into the oil. Add 2 to 3 but don’t crowd the pan. Fry them on a medium heat until golden brown and crisp, stirring frequently. The oil bubbles will reduce when the murukku is fried well. If not fried well, it will turn chewy after 1 to 2 days, so cook it well.

15. Drain to steel colnder. Fry the remaining murukku in batches.

Cool murukku completely before you store in an airtight stainless steel or glass jar (avoid plastic).

How to make jantikalu

16. The same dough is used to make the Andhra version of murukku. They require a large holed sev plate or jantikalu plate. You make layers of concentric circles directly into the hot flame.

17. Fry this sev version of murukulu until golden brown stirring often. Drain to steel colander. Fry the remaining jantikalu in batches.

Cool completely, break to pieces and store in an airtight stainless steel or glass jar.

Rice flour for murukku

The main ingredient of murukku or jantikalu. Is rice flour. This makes or breaks the dish. And effects the final texture of your spiral snacks. Use good quality raw rice flour. It should smell good and be fine not grainy or coarse.

Traditional murukku making involves soaking of raw, short-grain rice for 1 to 2 hours, drying it for a while and then milling it to a fine flour. This method helps you get lighter and crispier murukku.

On the other hand, you may get a different result from using store bought rice flour. If you can find it in grocery stores, buy idiyappam rice flour (special raw rice flour).

Pro tips

• Knead a firm dough that is not crumbly, hard or sticky. Too much moisture in the dough will make murukku absorb a lot of oil.
• Use butter paper, parchment paper, aluminum foil, slotted spatula or muslin cloth to make the spirals for easy removal.
• Use the dough immediately and fry the murukku. Resting the dough will make murukku oily.
• If the strands break while shaping, it is because dough is dry. Add 1 to 3 teaspoons of water to the dough and knead again.
• If you plan to make murukku with more than 2 cups of flour, then mix the dough in batches.
• Always fry them on a medium high heat otherwise murukku will turn soft after 1 to 2 days.
• If the oil is not hot enough then they absorb more oil and they turn soft the next day.
• Do not fry on high heat as it will brown fast, remain undercooked and even get burnt.

Troubleshooting tips

• If dough is sticky, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of rice flour at a time and knead well.
• If the dough looks floury, dry or crumbly, sprinkle 1 to 2 teaspoons of water at a time. Mix the dough to the correct consistency.
• If the murukku is oily or breaks while frying, you have added more than 1 tablespoon of oil. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of rice flour, at a time, to the remaining dough, and knead again.
• If murukku tastes hard after frying, there is less fat in the dough. Add 1 to 2 teaspoons hot oil to the dough and knead again.
• If the jantikalu tastes soft and break very easily, you have fried it on low heat. Increase heat to medium and fry the remaining batches.

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Recipe card

Murukku Recipe first published in October 2015. Updated and republished in November 2021.