Thenkuzhal
Thenkuzhal murukku – a classic South Indian deep-fried snack usually prepared around festivals.
I have fond memories of eating the thenkuzhal dough year after year during Diwali. Yeah, I’m a dough-eater. Don’t judge, okay? Sometimes, dough tastes amazing! And so does the end dish of the dough.
We make this snack about once or twice a year during festivals (most commonly during Diwali). We would make it more often, but the lengthy process often stops us from making the extra effort more frequently. Once in a while though – I urge you to try this snack – for this is a great one to have in your culinary repertoire.
Thenkuzhal Murukku Recipe – Print Option
PrintThenkuzhal
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 mins
- Yield: 30-35 murukkus 1x
Description
South Indian Deep Fried rice and lentil Thenkuzhal Murukku
Ingredients
For the flour
- 4 cups Raw Rice
- 1 cup Urad dal (whole white ones and not the split variety)
Others
- 1/4 cup soft Butter (preferably unsalted)
- 1 teaspoon Salt (adjust to taste)
- 4 teaspoons Cumin seeds (jeera)
- 1/2 teaspoon Asafetida (hing)
- Water (adjust as required)
- Vegetable Oil for deep frying
Instructions
To make the flour
- Soak raw rice for 2-3 hours. Wash well and spread on a clean kitchen cloth to let it dry completely.
- Fry Urad dal till you get a nice aroma or until slight golden brown.
- Mix both well. If you have a powerful grinder and home, grind it to a fine powder. If not, you can give the mix to a flour-mill who can grind it to a fine powder for you.
- Sieve the flour 2-3 times to make sure it is extremely fine. Store and use as required.
Alternative: If you live in Chennai, Mumbai or places with a typical south Indian grocery store around, you can get this flour mix ready-made too.
To make the Thenkuzhal Murruku
- Mix the flour, salt, cumin seeds, asafetida well.
- Add the soft butter to the flour and use a fork or your hands to distribute it throughout the flour evenly.
- Add lukewarm water little by little and keep mixing with your hands to form a soft dough. The dough should be like a soft cookie dough. Adjust water per need. Do not add too much to form a liquidy batter nor too little to have a tough dough.
- Meanwhile, heat oil on medium high heat on a large wok / pan with high sides
- Stuff some dough into the Thenkuzhal-maker.
- Option 1: Directly squeeze out the dough through the maker in a circular motion directly onto the oil. Do this only if you are an experienced cook.
- Option 2: Squeeze out the dough onto a kitchen cloth into small murukkus. Pick it up with a ladle and gently drop into the oil.
- Let the thenkuzhal fry on medium high heat on both sides for 4-5 minutes or until it is crispy and golden brown in color.
- Remove onto a slotted plate and late it cool completely.
- Repeat with the rest of the dough.
- Store the thenkuzhal at room temperature in a clean, air-tighter container up to 2 weeks
Alternative to the Thenkuzhal-maker
- If you don’t have one and don’t want to invest in one – fill the dough in a ziplock bag. Snip a very tiny hole at one end. Squeeze out gently in concentric circles to form the murukku on a ladle or directly into the oil.
- Category: Snack
- Cuisine: Indian
Thenkuzhal Murukku Recipe – Step by Step Pictures
Ingredients –
Mix together all ingredients. Add water little by little and mix well.
Mix to form a smooth dough. You don’t need to knead it too much. Just mix to form a dough. Stuff the dough into the murukku-maker.
Press with the top half to get strands of the dough. Directly press a few circles onto the hot oil.
Fry on both sides at medium heat for 3-4 minutes of until it is golden and crisp.
Alternatively – you can also squeeze out the dough onto a clean kitchen cloth if you don’t want to risk directly doing it in oil. You can also control the size of each thenkuzhal murukku.
Pick up each on with a large spatula and gently drop in the hot oil. Fry on medium heat for 5-7 minutes or until it is fully cooked and crisp.
Remove on a slotted plate and let the excess oil pass through. Let it cool completely. Store at room temperature in an air-tight jar / container. You can store the thenkuzhal as is or break it and store it.
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