Chakli / Murukku

Chakli / Chakralu / Murukku :

Chakli is all time favourite savoury anyone / everyone will surely love to eat. It is such a tempting snack, I would think before I taste a piece. I am too scared that I cannot stop till they are all done. (Without thinking of the after eating effect )

Stopping here, I would jump to writing the recipe.

Ingredients:
For the Murukku Powder
(You can also use ready mix if available)
Rice : 4 cups
Urad Dal - 1 cup

For making the dough
Butter : 100 grms
Sesame seeds - 3 tspn
Hing : 1/2 tspn
Salt for taste
Water enough to form a dough

For Chakli
Oil for deep frying

Method:
For making Murukku Powder
1) Wash Rice and Urad dal separately, drain water and spread it on a cloth. Let it dry in room temperature for about 30 mins.
2) Now, take small portions of urad dal and dry roast them till they turn light golden brown.
3) Similarly roast the rice, just enough to let go the moisture in it.
4) Now, mix both together and blend them into a fine powder.
For making the dough
5) Take a broad mixing bowl, and spread butter evenly all around the bowl, till you think its melting.
6) Now, add the powder to this and add sesame seeds, Hing and salt and mix all together.
7) Add water little by little and little and make it into a soft dough.
8) Now make equal portions of the dough just nice to fit into the chakli maker

Cylindrical Shapped dough portions. Ready to enter the Muruku/Chakli Maker / Press

9) Now, out of the options you get in the press use the one with single star, and put the dough into the maker and press on small plastic sheets / banana leaves / wax paper. (whichever is available) into spirals as big as you want.

10) In the meanwhile, take a deep frying pan, and heat enough oil.

11) Once hot, slowly drop the pressed chakli into the oil, and deep fry on medium flame till they turn light golden brown.



Murukku / Chakli pressed on small sheets of Plastic paper.

Pressed Chakli ready to be deep fried.

Chakli ready to be tasted.

12) Now, you can store these in air tight containers and best served with a hot cup of coffee / even along with sambar rice or rasam rice. :) Yum..

Note:
1) You need to knead the dough as much as you can. This will prevent the chakli from breaking in between while you are trying to make the spirals.
2) In case the chakli is breaking while pressing, you can use little water and make the dough a little softer (if it turned out to be hard) and knead again and press.

Cheers!
Madhavi

Rava Idli / Steamed Semolina Idli

Rava Idli

One of the best in the menus of Darshani's in Bangalore. Its steamed, healthy and very
tasty. The best part is its instant and no preliminary preparations to it. Here you go with the recipe

Ingredients:
Semolina / Rava - 1 cup
Sour / Fresh Curd - 1/2 cup
Water - 1/2 cup
Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup (finely chopped)
Mustard seeds - 1 tspn
Urad dal - 1 tspn
Channa Dal - 1 tspn
Cashews - 1/4 cup (Optional)
Oil for roasting the rava. - 2 tspn
Salt to taste
Grated Carrot - 1/2 cup (Optional)
Peas - 1/2 cup (optional)
Soda - a pinch (optional)

Method:
1) Roast semolina with 1 tspn of oil  till the rava turns light golden brown and transfter into another plate and keep aside.
2) In the same pan, add another tspn of oil and once hot, add mustard seeds, cashews, urad dal and channa dal and
3) once they turn golden brown pour the roasted semolina into the oil and give it a good mix and keep it aside.
4) To this mixture, add 1/4 cup water, salt, curd, coriander leaves and mix well and keep this mixture aside for about 10 mins.
5) Just before steaming the idlis, check the above mixture, it should be idly batter consistency. If not, add the remaining water and now add soda and give it a good mix.
6) Now, take the idli plates, and place 3-4 peas in each part of the plate and place one layer of grated carrot over the peas.
7) On this pour the batter covering the green peas and carrot. Do not pour the batter too full. Just pour 3/4 of the portion, giving the idlis space to get fluffy.
8) Now place the filled plates in the idli cooker or steamer and steam for about 15 - 20 mins.
9) Check if the idlis are cooked by piercing a knife or a tooth pick right in the center. If it comes out neat and clean, then the idlies are cooked.
10) Now scoop the idlis from the stand and place it on the serving plates upside down.
11) The green peas and carrots would look lovely with a grt colour combination and needless to say, the idlis would taste yum. (While I made these, I was in a hurry so, did not put the green peas and carrot at the bottom of the idlis :( )
12) Serve hot with any chutney or sagu of your choice.

Cheers!
Madhavi

Green Peas Dhokla

Dhokla

This is one of my favourite steamed Gujrati snack and I was wondering how do I make it as fluffy as we get in the sweet stalls back in India.

That's when, I got the message that one of my Friend does amazing dhoklas and checked with her on the recipe. This is what my expert friend advised me, and the Dhokla's came out excellent. Thanks a lot Rikta for your valuable input. :)

Here you go with the recipe.

Ingredients
for the batter:
Besan - 1 cup
Semolina - 2 tspn
Salt to taste
Buttermilk - 1.5 cups (Approx)
Eno/Soda - 2 tspn or as desired
Ginger - 1 tspn (Grated)
Green Chillies - 2 (Finely chopped)
Peas - 1/2 cup (Optional)

For the seasoning:
Oil - 1 tspn
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tspn
Sesame seeds - 1/2 tspn
Dry red chilli - 1 no (Broken)
Coconut - 2 tspn
Lemon juice - 2 tspn

Method:
1) In a bowl, mix the dhokla batter with all the ingredients listed under "For batter), except for eno/soda and keep aside.
2) Take a cooker vessel or a plate in which you wish to steam the dhoklas and grease it with some ghee or oil and keep aside.
3) Just before you want to steam heat the water in a cooker.
4) Now, mix eno / soda to the batter mix gentle and pour this mixture in the cooker vessel and place it in the boiling water.
5) Steam it for about 10-15 mins and turn off the stove.
6) Once done, take a pan, add oil, and once hot, add mustard seeds, red chillies and sesame seeds and hing and pour this mixture over the dhokla and using a spoon spread it all over the vessel.
6) Take a knife cut the dhoklas into the pieces of desired shape, and
7) Pour lime juice mixed with sugar and sprinkle some coconut.
8) Dhoklas are ready to be served hot with tamarind chutney and green chutney

Note:
1) The peas can be added after blending it to a smooth paste into the batter and then steam it for better taste and consistancy.
2) Optionally, you can also puree palak, or any vegetable of your choice.

The above updates are after receiving feedback from Rikta. :)

Cheers!
Madhavi