Murukku

First chop finely some curry leaves and set aside.

Then, lightly fry to dry roast the murukku flour in a warm wok/ frying pan over low heat till light for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

Take care not to brown it. Otherwise the murukku will have too dark a colour and taste burnt.

Remove from heat and let cool completely.

Then place the roasted murukku mix, glutinous and rice flour, omam/ajowan seeds, cumin and white sesame seeds in a large mixing bowl. Stir to mix everything together.

Then, place water, coconut milk, butter/margarine and salt in a saucepan. Heat up till the butter is just melted. Do not bring to a boil.

Pour the coconut milk mixture into the flour mixture, little by little and mix with a spatula.

Once the dough is combined well, use your hands to knead and form into a smooth, non-sticky and soft dough.

This mixing process can also be done in a stand mixer using a dough hook.

Then fill the murukku press with a portion of the dough and press the dough through the press from the top. You can use any mould for this purpose and you can do this two ways.

You can either slowly press it down directly on top of the oil.

Or make the murukku first and then carefully drop them into the oil using a stainless steel spatula.

To deep fry the murukku, first heat up enough oil in a wok or frying pan. Add a pinch of dough and if it raises immediately with a sizzling sound, then the oil is ready.

Then, fry some stalks of fresh curry leaves in the oil. Drain out the fried curry leaves once the flavour has been released into the oil, about 3 minutes.

Then carefully drop the shaped murukku and slowly fry on medium high heat. There will be lots of bubbles. Do not overcrowd the wok/pan. Otherwise it will lower the oil temperature.

When the murukku turns crispy golden brown colour on one side and also when bubbles ceases, flip to the other side and cook till done when the bubbles just about disappear.

Remove the fried murukku with a strainer and drain them on some paper towels. Repeat the same for the rest of the murukku dough.

These crispy murukku keep well for a long time. Only serve or store them in dry air tight container after they have cooled completely.

Notes:
Butter/margarine added makes the dough soft and crispy, so do not add too much. Otherwise the murukku will break when pressed from the murukku mould.

If the dough is dry and crumbly, add just a little more water. If too sticky, add a bit more rice flour.

Keep the dough covered to prevent it from drying while you deep fry it.

Make sure the oil is hot when deep frying the murukku or you will end up with very oily murukku.