Mullu Murukku | Moong Dal Chakli

Mullu Murukku or Moong Dal Chakli is a deep fried spiral shaped crunchy, savoury snack made using rice flour, moong dal flour and gram flour. It is called Mullu Murukku or Mullu Tengozhal or Magizhampoo Murukku in Tamil Nadu, where as in North India it is commonly called as Chakli. Mullu means thorn in tamil and since the texture of the murukku is with small spikes on the outer layer, it is called as Mullu Murukku.

Mullu Murukku is one of the most important and popular snacks made during Diwali. It is super crunchy and delicious and one of my personal favourite. This murukku looks quite pretty too due to the concentric spiral shape. When this murukku is made with single concentric circles, it is identical to the chakli which is the term used in North India. However, this murukku can also be made like Tengozhal which is typically made using the three hole chakli press. For Mullu Murukku, the star shaped plate is used for squeezing the dough.

There are numerous ways of making this chakli or murukku when it comes to the dough preparation. Traditionally, the rice is soaked for sometime, then drained and drained and then turned into flour. Roasted moong dal and channa dal are also ground to fine flour either in mixer at home or in a flour mill. However, in this recipe, I will be making use of store bought rice flour and making moong dal flour at home, after roasting it on low flame. I am using Gram flour or Besan in this recipe instead of grinding channa dal. This technique is quite easy as it is instant and tastes exactly the same as the traditional method.

Though Mullu murukku is quite easy to make, but there are few things to be careful to get the perfect texture and shape. Murukku must be crunchy and at the same time not too hard, it must almost melt in mouth. For many, this is where the recipe goes wrong. Also, if you are making murukku using the single star disc, it takes bit of practice and patience to get the perfect concentric circles. In many instances, you would still squeeze a perfect concentric murukku or chakli, but it would deform or break when transferred to oil. I am sharing my below tips and tricks to overcome all these issues:

Serving Suggestion

Mullu Murukku or Chakli is served as a snack and pairs best with a cup of hot filter coffee or tea. It stays fresh easily up to 2 weeks when stored in an air-tight container at room temperature.

Mullu Murukku | Moong Dal Chakli

Kannan

Mullu Murukku or Moong Dal Chakli is a savoury crunchy snack made using rice flour, moong dal flour and gram flour. It is commonly made during Diwali.

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Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr

Course Snacks

Cuisine Indian

Servings 35 Murukku

Equipment

• Chakli Press

Ingredients

  

• 2½ cups Rice Flour
• ½ cup Yellow Moong Dal Flour roasted and ground
• ½ cup Besan or Gram Flour
• 3 tbsp Butter
• 2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
• 2½ tsp White Sesame Seeds
• ¼ tsp Asafoetida or Hing
• Salt to taste
• Oil for deep frying

Instructions

 

• If you do not have moong dal flour, follow till step 3 to make moong dal flour. Heat a kadai, add moong dal and dry roast on low to medium flame till it slightly changes colour and turns aromatic.
  
• Cool the roasted moong dal and grind in mixer to a fine powder.
  
• Now sieve this flour.
  
• For making the chakli dough, add rice flour, moong dal flour and gram flour in a sieve and sieve it well so that there are no lumps.
  
• Now add salt, chilli powder, asafoetida, butter, sesame seeds and mix well.
  
• Knead this to a soft dough by adding water in small portions. You might roughly require 1.5 cups of water for this dough. Cover the dough and rest the dough for 5 minutes.
  
• For making chakli, use the star shaped disc in Chakli maker. Preferably use the 7 edges star shape as compared to 5.
  
• Take a large portion of the dough and fill it in the chakli maker.
  
• Now squeeze the chakli by moving around in concentric circles over the back of a ladle. Make sure to put continuous pressure else it will break in between. Seal the edges (start and end) by pinching it together, else it might open up while frying.
  
• Continue making some more chakli on the back of few more ladles. Heat the oil in Kadai in the meanwhile.
  
• Once the oil is hot, drop the chakli carefully in the oil by just immersing in oil. The chakli should automatically come off. Cook the chakli on medium flame. Do not disturb for sometime.
  
• After a minute or so, flip the chakli and cook the other side. You can flip the chakli there on for one or two times till the bubbles subside. The chakli is cooked as soon as you notice that the bubbles have subsided. Drain the chakli to a tissue paper.
  
• Continue making the remaining chakli in similar way.
• If you are using the 3 star disc, you can squeeze the dough onto a aluminium foil like this and then transfer to oil by using your hand.
  
• The 3 star chakli or murukku would like this.
  

Notes

• Make sure to dry roast the moong dal before you make the flour.
• Sieve all the flour to ensure that there are no lumps or impurities.
• Use the right amount of butter as specified in the recipe. If you use any less, the murukku or chakli would turn hard, and if it is in excess, chakli would absorb more oil.
• Use of chilli powder is optional, but gives the chakli a nice colour.
• Squeezing the chakli on back of ladle works great to retain the shape of chakli while transferring to oil. You could also squeeze on foil and then transfer into oil using hand.
• You can either use the single star and 3 star chakli disc for this recipe.
• Chakli is cooked as soon as the bubbles subside in the oil. Do note that the chakli would continue to change colour even after taking it out of the oil.
• Let the chakli cool completely, before you close it with the lid, else it might turn soggy.

Keyword Chakli, Diwali Snacks, Magizhampoo Murukku, Moong Dal Chakli, Mullu Murukku, Mullu Tengozhal, Murukku, Snacks, Teatime Snacks