Muruku is a popular snack among most of us at any time as they are savoury and crunchy. However, I believe that it is a must-have snack in Indian homes during Deepavali. It had been a popular snack for us during Chinese New Year for the last few years. Once we start munching them we find it difficult to stop and a few bottles would finish in no time as families gather during this festive season.
There are a few types of muruku - ribbon muruku, omapodi (the short string/noodle ones usually sold with roasted peanuts and green peas), butter muruku, sweet cumin (jintan manis) muruku and garlic muruku. I have made a simple one by just mixing omam ajwain seeds and white sesame seeds to the muruku flour. You may add some sweet cumin to it for a more distinct taste.
- 500 g muruku flour
- 2 1/2 tbsp omam ajwain seeds
- 2-3 tbsp white sesame seeds
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper powder
- 5 sprigs of curry leaves, chopped up very finely (to ensure that they can pass out through a star nozzle)
- 30 g butter
- 1/2 cup santan
- 300 - 350 g / ml water
- Cooking oil
Method:
- Weigh muruku flour into a mixing bowl.
- Add oman ajwain seeds, sesame seeds, salt, black pepper powder and curry leaves to a mixing bowl. Stir to mix them up.
- Add butter and santan to the mixture and stir.
- Add 300 g / ml of water to the bowl.
- Stir the water with the ingredients to achieve a smooth batter. If the batter is dry, slowly add the remaining water (or more), spoonful by spoonful till you get a smooth and soft consistency (which will allow you to pipe it out easily through a nozzle). (Remember that different muruku flour absorb water differently.)
- Once you have achieved the required consistency, transfer the batter to a piping bag with a star nozzle.
- Heat up a pan with about 1 cm cooking oil. (Do not put too much oil as the batter will move when you are piping it out. You may find it difficult to pipe the batter into the required shape.)
- Pipe out the batter in a circular manner.
- Fry the muruku till one side is golden brown. Flip to the other side and fry it till golden side.
- Scoop out the muruku onto a kitchen towel to absorb excess oil.
- Keep the muruku in an air-tight container when they are completely cooled down.