Ribbon pakoda recipe | Ribbon murukku | Aaku pakodi

Ribbon pakoda recipe – I am sharing one more South Indian snack for the upcoming festive season. Ribbon pakoda also known as ribbon murukku is fried snack made with rice flour, besan, fried gram and spices like chili powder and cumin. Similar to other murukku recipes even ribbon pakoda is made with different ratios of besan, rice flour and fried gram flour. Each household has their own recipe to make these.

I am sharing the way I make it at home. Ribbon pakoda can also be made without fried gram, just using besan and rice flour.

Just like the omapodi or plain sev, these can also be made using only besan and skip rice flour and fried gram. Each variation gives a different taste, texture and level of crunch to the ribbon pakoda.

If making in small quantity just to finish it on the same day, then they can be made with besan alone since they may begin to loose the crunch after 2 to 3 days.

The ribbon pakoda recipe I am sharing here yields pakoda that can be kept for about 10 to 15 days without losing the crunch if stored in an airtight containers.

An addition of fried gram makes them light and besan adds a aroma and taste.

Please note this recipe is not for novice cooks similar to the butter murukku recipe this requires pressing the mould directly over the hot oil.

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Preparation for ribbon pakoda

1. Add ¼ cup fried gram to a grinder jar. These are also known as roasted gram and are commonly used to make chutney.

2. Grind them and make a very fine powder. We need only ¼ cup powder/ flour for this recipe. Measure and add it to a large mixing bowl.

3. To the same bowl, add 1 cup rice flour and ¼ cup besan (gram flour). All of these have to fine. If they are coarse then sieve them otherwise they may get stuck in the murukku maker and break the ribbon pakoda.

Crush ½ teaspoon cumin in a mortar pestle or on a chopping board with rolling pin. Add to the bowl along with 1 to 1 ½ tablespoons sesame seeds, ¼ to ¾ teaspoon red chilli powder and ½ teaspoon salt. Very coarse particles in the dough may break the pakoda so crushing or powdering cumin and sieving the flours is very important.

4. Mix all the ingredients in the mixing bowl. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a kadai until very hot (not smoking). Add it here to the flour. Be careful as the oil is hot, use and spoon and incorporate the oil with the flour. Then use your fingers to mix and rub the flour in between your palms until all of the oil is incorporated well with the flour.

Making dough for ribbon pakoda

5. You can use plain water or ginger chili water to knead the dough. To make the ginger chilli water, add half inch piece of ginger and 2 green chilies to a blender.

Pour little water and make a paste. Pour 3 tablespoons water more water. Filter this and use to make the dough. It makes the ribbon pakoda very flavorful like the one sold in the shops. Crushed onion can also be used for flavoring along with ginger chilli water.

6. Pour more plain water to mix and form the dough.

7. Dough must be soft and non sticky. It should not be dry or crumbly. If the dough is sticky then sprinkle some flour and mix. If it is too dry, sprinkle water and mix again. Taste test the dough and add more salt or red chilli powder if needed.

How to make ribbon pakoda

8. Grease the mould and attach a ribbon pakoda plate. Fill with the prepared dough. Cover the rest of the dough to prevent drying.

9. Pour oil to a heavy bottom kadai or deep pan. Heat on a medium flame until hot enough. Check by adding a small flat piece of dough to the oil, the dough has to rise immediately without turning brown. This is the right temperature. If it becomes brown, it means the oil is very hot. Reduce the heat and let the temperature of oil come down a bit. If the dough sinks it means the oil is not hot enough.

10. Press the mould directly to the hot oil, moving the hand in circular motions. Be careful and keep your hand and mould at a good distance from the hot oil and steam.

Do not press the dough in one place, we need to keep moving the hand in circular motion. Fry on a medium high flame until golden. If they are not fried well, ribbon pakoda will turn soft and chewy very soon.

Remove them to a colander and cool them completely. I usually break the ribbon pakoda to pieces and then store them in an airtight jar. They keep good for 2 weeks. If you are making them in larger quantity then store them in separate containers so they stay fresh for longer.

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South Indian ribbon pakoda