Chakali (Muruku)

Chakli is a savoury snack consisting of a deep-fried spiral of bean-based batter. It originated in the cuisines of south and west India, and is now popular in the Indian Subcontinent and Indonesia, where it is akar kelapa, and is particularly popular among Betawi!  It is very tasty and crispy recipe and can be made in various different styles by adding different ingredients to it.

·         Combining Rice flour and Urad dal.

·         Rice flour and Moong dal.

·         Rice flour and gram flour.

·         Rice flour mixed with urad dal, moong dal and gram flour.

·         Whet flour can also be used to make chakali.

Chakali or Murukku can be made by various different methods. Some of them are :
·         Knead the flour for chakali by adding boiled and ground moong dal into rice flour with spices.
·         Mix roasted and ground moong dal, urad dal and channa dal into rice flour with spices and knead the flour to make chakali.
·         Mix urad dal flour, moong dal flour and gram flour with rice flour with spices and knead it to make chakali.

You can prepare rice chakali with any ingredients that is available in your kitchen. Like i had urad dal flour, moong dal flour and gram flour available in my kitchen, so i have used the third method to make Rice Chakali. Lets start with our preparation now.

Ingredients for Rice Chakali

·         Rice flour - 400 gms. (4 cup)

·         Urad dal flour - 100 gms. (1 cup)

·         Moong dal flour - 100 gms. (1 cup)

·         Gram flour - 100 gms. (1 cup)

·         Sesame - 1 table spoon.

·         Carom seeds - 1 tea spoons.

·         Cumin seeds - 1 tea spoon.

·         Red chilli powder - less than 1 tea spoon.

·         Heeng - 2-3 pinch (optional)

·         Salt - 11/4 tea spoon (or according to the taste)

·         Oil - 150 gms. (3/4 cup)

Method - How to make Rice Chakali

Mix and sieve all the flours (rice flour, urad dal flour, moong dal flour, gram flour) in one bowl. Add all

thespices and oil to it and mix well with hands. Now knead the mixture with little water to make a smooth

dough. Leave the dough covered for 20 minutes. Dough to make chakali is ready.

Take a portion of dough (atleast 1/2 cup) and roll it into a long roll. Now put this roll into the machine and close it. Spread a polythene sheet on the shelf or the kitchen top and press the machine from the top revolving it in circular motion so that the mixture falls on the sheet making a chakali. Prepare 4-5 chakali on the polythene sheet.

heat oil in a pan. Pick the chakali from the sheet in a way that it does not break or lose its shape. Put them in the pan and fry on a low or medium flame. Fry 5-6 chakalis at one time until they turn brown and crispy. Take them out on a plate and prepare more chakalis with the remaining dough in the same manner.

Rice Chakali is ready. Serve them instant or store in an air-tight container to consume it later on at tea time. These can be consumed for over 2 months.

Precautions:Do not over use the oil while kneading the dough, else the flour will fall apart and it will be difficult to knead it.

Do not fry the chakali on high flame, else it will turn brown from the upper surface instantly leaving the inner surface raw and soft.