Saturday, October 25, 2008

deepavali - time for murukku making



it is time to make murukku because deepavali is just round the corner. no, i do not celebrate deepavali but my hindu friends do. yes, some of my indian friends have made the unusual request of asking me to make some murukku for them so that they can offer 'chinese made murukku' to their visitors.

i learnt to make murukku from the mother of my indian friend but they do not celebrate deepavali because they are catholics.

the ingredients and the equipment are quite basic. i use the metal murukku maker which comes with a number of templates to give you a choice of shape and thickness of the strands of murukku. you can actually use the murukku flour by itself, without the need to add anything else. however, i normally add butter and sesame seeds to the ready-made flour.

in preparing the dough, the most important ingredient is the water. if you add too much water, the dough will turn out gluey and sticky and the murukku will break into small strands even before it hits the hot oil.

very often while watching me cook the murukku, some of my colleagues and friends will request to have a go at it. that is when they discover that handling the murukku maker requires a bit of practice. i know two indian ladies who gave up after their failed attempts at making a decent looking murukku.

i have a preference for the lingam brand of flour. alternatively, i will made do with the baba's brand.

instructions for making murukku can be found here.

6 comments:

PChew said...

I love to eat murukku. The snack goes very well with beer, wine or liquor. I used to buy it at Giant, Johore because it was cheaper there.

Victor said...

Looks like yee mee (egg noodles) to me.

yg said...

i don't eat much because it is deep fried food. yes, it goes well with beer.

yg said...

it does look like yee mee in the picture but it is hard and crispy.

Andy said...

is it nice? How does it taste like? Have not tried it before.

yg said...

the butter does add some flavour to it. it is crunchy and once you start eating it, you may find it difficult to stop eating; it can be addictive.