Manapparai Murukku

Manapparai, located in Tiruchirappalli district is renowned for its murukkus since the 1920s. This unique innovation was first made by Mani Iyer who sold his murukku (made of rice flour mixed with fresh butter and deep – fried in coconut oil) in his refreshment stall at the railway station to the hungry passengers.

In fact, Manapparai and its murukku has been written about in several Tamizh literary texts. Their inseparable relationship has led to changes in its preparation and packing over the years but this hereditary cottage industry is trying hard to retain its roots with a slight infusion of modern machinery and technology.

Though this handmade snack is prepared across the state, the Manapparai murukku is in a league of its own owing its distinctive taste, texture and colour to the brackish water found in abundance in this town and the excellent quality ingredients.

The urad dal is first dry roasted and ground fine. This flour along with rice flour (made from Kallimadayan rice cultivated in Dindigul district and procured from Madurai mills), cumin seeds (crushed by hand), ajwain seeds (crushed by hand), sesame seeds, fresh butter, asafoetida and salt are mixed with a little water. It is necessary to add the water in small quantities to avoid air bubbles and maintain the shape and crispiness of the murukkus.

Oil (preferably coconut oil) is heated on medium flame in a large kadai. A small portion of the dough is put into the murukku press and squeezed carefully in a circular motion over the hot oil to form small – sized murukkus.

The murukkus are turned over on all sides till they turn crispy. They are taken out and left to cool. The next batch of murukkus are put into the oil.

The initial batches are then deep – fried again till they turn golden in colour. The excess oil is drained out. They are stored either in stainless – steel containers or immediately packed in brown paper bags to be sold locally.

The crunchy murukku is prepared for all religious and social functions. However, the only downside is that this delicious snack remains fresh for three days.

Manapparai murukku was awarded the prestigious Geographical Indication Tag (GI) in 2023.

Written by Lakshmi Subramanian