One of the most delicious Chettinadu snacks of Karaikudi is its world – famous thenkuzhal murukku. This traditional treat is prepared for Diwali and important social functions.
Locally available IR20 raw rice (or CR Pachai) is soaked for an hour after which the water is drained and the rice is dried on a thin cloth in the shade for either a few hours or even a day or two.
The dry rice is ground into a fine powder (ground in batches), sieved and kept aside. Urad dal is roasted on low flame for a few minutes till it becomes hot, powdered fine (ground in batches) and sieved.
This is added to the rice flour along with salt, asafoetida, melted ghee or butter and a little water and mixed till the dough becomes soft. If ghee or butter is not added to the mix, then the thenkuzhal murukkus will be very crispy and slightly hard.
A portion of the dough is put into the murukku press and pressed slowly into the hot oil. The murukkus should be deep – fried evenly on all the sides till the bubbles in the oil settle down. It is removed from the oil, allowed to cool and stored in air – tight containers.
These thenkuzhal murukkus will be light in colour with a soft and slightly crispy texture.
Written by Lakshmi Subramanian
sahasa.in 
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