Murukku ~ Indian Cooking Challenge # 3

Srivalli chose murukku for the September Challenge.  For me, murukku means the kai murukku, which needs some expertise to make. My amma is an expert on that. More on that murukku in a later post. I must admit, this month's ICC was a breeze for me. It must have been a real challenge, if she had chosen the kai murukku. Though I make muthusaram, the recipe given by Valli was different from what I make. I found this recipe simpler with few ingredients.

Srivalli had given the ratio of Rice to Urad dal as 4:1. Since I had ground more quanity of rice, I measured 2 cups of rice flour and proceeded with the making. Proportinaly I took urad dal flour too. For those of you who are not starting from scratch, this measurement might be useful. Apart from this, I followed her recipe. When ever I make murukku of this kind, I directly press into the oil. This time I wanted to try making the concentric circles kind and tried my hand at that. It was easy, but time consuming. After making around 10 numbers that way, I felt back to my old ways.

2 cups of rice flour - Soaked, shade dried and powdered

1/3 cup f urad dal flour - Roasted and powdered

1 1/2 tblspn of butter

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tspn

Sesame seeds - 1/2 tspn

Hing - a small piece soaked in water

Water to make the dough

Take both rice and urad dal flour in a wide vessel.  Add salt, butter, cumin and sesame seeds. Mix well. I used the solid hing. So I soak it in water for half an hour . Add the hing water. Gather everything well to get a crumbly mix. Slowly add water to get a soft dough. If too much water is added, then you will have trouble pressing into oil. The dough will keep breaking while you press.

Heat oil in a kadai and when the oil is hot, press into the oil and cook over medium flame. Gently turn the murkkus with a slotted spoon and cook till it is golden in color. Drain on absorbent paper and when cool, store in airtight container.  If you have both the flours ready, then its really easy to make. The only problem with this murukku is that it gets over in the same speed its made.

Tour of the La Selva Commune

A few months back Vanessa Bertozzi, our colleague and friend who worked with us on The Sonic Memorial Project, wrote us with a "little bit of a crazy proposal." She's now working for Etsy, an online marketplace for things handmade, and wanted to know if we'd take part in a series they're creating for their blog about peoples' homes and collections. So videographer Eric Beug spent the day at La Selva with Kitchen Sister Silva creating this piece for their series "There's No Place Like Here."

About Me

Hey all

I m Priya Srinivasan, i live in Sharjah, UAE.

I m a Teacher/Lecturer by Profession, but at present i stay @home to look after my 3 year old Energy bundle named Narasimhan.

Teaching is my passion. Hope to join work soon after my kid starts his school.

Cooking is another art which i love. I m a Happy Person in the Kitchen.

I Believe there is no hard and fast rules in cooking.

U can add little bit of ur imagination too.

Talking about my Favourites, I love Music, i m a great fan of Ilayaraja. I love to hear others too, any good music, i jus love it.

Before marriage i didnt have any big interest in movies. Jus love watching hindi/english movies with my college friends.

Its my husband who introduced me to good movies. Some of them are Erin Brockovich, America's Sweetheart, Mamma mia, Devil Wears Prada, Notting Hill, Pretty Woman, Monalisa Smile, Roman Holiday, Sound of Music Four Weddings and a Funeral, Mr. & Mrs. Iyer, 15 Park Avenue, Manichitrathazh, Bharatham, Swathi Nakshthram, Mani Rathnam movies, Balachander movies......

Now-a-days i m watching BEE MOVIE thrice a day, oh yeah, my son watches it everyday!!!! now i started remembering all the dialoges, v can jus mute the volume and go dubbing. :)