Butter Murukku

Murukkus / Chaklis are the all time favourites of any Indian and each and every region of India has its own recipe of making it. South Indians have a variety of murukkus and one of them is the "Butter murukku" which is a melt in the mouth after just a few bites.

Ingredients :

1 1/2 cups rice flour
1/4 cup besan ( chickpea flour )
1/4 cup chutney dal / pottu kadalai / Dalia powder ( chutney dal powdered in the mixie )
2 tbsp. butter at room temperature
1/2 tsp. asafoetida
1/2 tsp. jeera / sesame seeds
Salt to taste
water as required
Oil for deep frying
Murukku press


Method :

1. Mix the rice flour, besan and the chutney dal powder and salt.
2. Add the butter and mix with fingertips till the butter is dispersed in the flour evenly.
3. Add asafoetida, jeera / sesame seeds and mix and sprinkling little water at a time mix the flour together to form a soft dough so that the dough can pass through the star hole of murukku press easily.
4. Put some quantity of the dough into the murukku press and squeeze out the dough into the hot oil to make murukkus and deep fry on a medium heat till light pink in colour .

Some Hints :
1. Add just enough water to the dough till all the flour comes together and a dough is formed. The dough should be just right so that it is squeezable in the press, not very hard and not very soft.
2. If you want a perfect chakli shape, then shape the dough on a wax paper or onto a flat ladle and then leave in the oil. If no time, then squeeze directly into the oil and dont bother about the shape. It will still taste good.
3. Remove the murukkus when they are light pink in colour and dont wait till golden brown as it will spoil the taste of it. See that 90 percent of the hissing noise or the bubbles in the oil have stopped.


Krishnaarpanam

Orange Raisin Muffins (Eggless)

I always thought that cakes can never be soft unless and until you add eggs till I came across Tarla Dalal's website. When I came across so many cake recipes and that too all eggless, I was awestruck. At first it was magic according to me for the cakes to be so soft in texture and that too without eggs. One such recipe of an eggless cake is this and no one will know that it is eggles....


Ingredients :

1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. soda bicarbonate
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1/2 cup condensed milk
1/3 cup sugar powdered
1/3 cup cream
1 tbsp. orange juice
1 tsp. grated orange rind
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup walnuts ( optional )


Method :

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Sift the all purpose flour and soda together and keep aside.
2. Mix the butter and sugar well with a whisk or a spatula till the sugar is infused in the butter. Mix in the condensed milk, cream, orange juice and the orange rind and mix will till all are combined together.
3. Add the all purpose flour to the wet ingredients and mix well in a single direction. Add the raisins and walnuts and mix. Scoop the mixture into greased muffin pans and bake for 20 - 22 mins. till they are cooked. ( Insert a tooth prick or a clean knife in one of the muffins and see that they come out clean.). Cool and enjoy.





Krishnaarpanam