Manapparai Murukku

For this month's Indian Cooking Challenge, we are traveling towards Tamilnadu. To be specific, towards a town called Manapparai in Tiruchi district. The town's name has somewhat become synonymous with their signature snack - The Manapparai Murukku. A man named Mani Iyer who used to run a vegetarian refreshment stall at the railway station had introduced these murukkus to the train passengers during 1920's. His murukku were so famous that passengers were drawn out of their compartments to buy them. Later these were sold in brown paper bags that were easily identified. Nowadays, murukku making has become a cottage industry in that town and they are available everywhere and are even exported to other countries.

Iyer used to mix butter to the rice flour and fry chaklis in coconut oil. The unique feature of these chaklis are that they are fried twice unlike the regular chaklis that are fried only once. I haven't personally seen or tasted these specific murukkus and going by the reference we had, I am sure that Mr.Iyer's recipe is safely locked somewhere in a vault. :))

The recipe we got for trial had a kilogram of rice flour with a dash of urad flour. Any seasoned chakli maker would tell you that the recipe is nothing but a disaster. Going against my instincts, I tried a small portion, following the recipe to the T, hoping to prove myself wrong and the result was hard to bite chaklis. Then I increased the urad dal quantity and got the good variety ones though the chakli dough somewhat is similar to thenkuzhal/thentharlu one. I fried them until they attained a lighter hue though I am not sure whether they should attain a light / dark golden hue.

And coming to the flours. Usually it is a practice to prepare the flours from scratch in India while preparing chaklis. I always use the store bought ones and they work just fine as the freshly prepared flours. Besides they cut down the work.

Ingredients:
2 cups rice flour
1/2 cup urad flour / Black gram flour
1 tbsp butter / hot oil
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp carom seeds / ajwain (I didn't add any.)
Salt to taste
Oil to fry (I used canola oil.)

Method:
1. Combine everything in a mixing bowl. Add water gradually and make a firm dough.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a wok / wide frying pan. Drop a bit of dough into the hot oil. When it sizzles and comes to surface, then the oil is hot enough for frying. If the dough doesn't rise to surface, heat oil for a couple of minutes more. However there is no need to bring the oil to a smoking point.
3. Fit a single star disc / 5 holed disc to the chakli press, fill the dough into the nozzle and press the dough circle on the back of a ladle. I did it on the backside of a greased, stainless steel plate. Allow the shaped dough circles to rest for about 5 minutes.

4. Drop the dough circles into the hot oil. Fit as many as the frying pan can hold without overcrowding. Fry them in hot oil for about 3 - 4 minutes, flipping in between. (Chaklis are only partially fried at this point.) Remove them with a slotted spoon and drain on absorbent towels to cool them a bit.
5. Now repeat the steps as above and partially fry another batch of chaklis. Remove them as well and drain on plates covered with absorbent towels.

6. Now drop the partially fried first batch of chaklis (from the step 4) into hot oil again and fry until they turn crisp. I kept them light hued but one can fry until they attain a dark golden hue.
7. Now fry the partially fried second batch chaklis from step 5 until they are completely done.
8. Repeat the steps of double frying the chaklis with the remaining dough.
9. Let cool and store them in an airtight container. 

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Rava Laddu / Sooji Laddu / Sweet Semolina Balls

Event: Blogging Marathon #42
Theme: Festival Special ~ Sri Krishnashtami

Rava laddu is a sweet dish that is usually featured in an offering platter to Lord Krishna on Janmasthami day. It is simple and quick to prepare when compared to other traditional dishes that are a part of the neivedyam that day. These yummy laddus are very easy to prepare and hard to mess up even by novices. My mother prepares these laddus with coconut while my husband's family follow the below recipe.

 

Ingredients: (yield a dozen laddus.)

1 cup rava / semolina

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup ghee or 2 tbsp ghee + 2 tbsp milk

2 tbsp cashews, chopped roughly

2 tbsp raisins

1/4 tsp cardamom powder

Method:
* Add rava to a pan and toast it on low flame. Keep continuously stirring, until it starts to change color, about 5 - 7 minutes. Take care not to burn it. Transfer the toasted rava to a wide plate and keep it aside. Let cool
* Heat about 2 tbsp ghee in a small pan. Add cashews and raisins to the pan and toast until cashews turn golden brown and the raisins turn plump.

* Finely grind the sugar and keep it aside.
* Grind the toasted rava as well.
* Now transfer the rava, powdered sugar, cardamom powder, toasted cashew - raisin mixture along with the ghee used to toast them to a wide plate or a mixing bowl. Next add the remaining ghee (or milk) and mix well.
* Fist about a lime sized portion from the mixture and shape into a ball. Repeat the process with the remaining mixture to from laddus. 
* Store the laddus in an airtight container. 
  
Notes:
* If not preparing for a festive platter, toasted semolina (without any ghee) and sugar can be powdered ahead and stored in a container. Just add toasted dry fruits and prepare laddus on a short notice.
* To make these laddus guilt free, half the quantity of ghee can be replaced by milk as mentioned in the ingredients' list above. However the shelf life of the laddus decrease because of the milk used. If not planning to eat the laddus immediately, they can be refrigerated.
* Usually shaping laddus should not be a problem with the above measurements. If at all the mixture is too dry to shape, add a little more ghee / milk to the mixture, mix and try to make laddus. 
* For a yummy variation, add about a cup of fresh, shredded coconut to the toasted rava and sugar. There is no need to powder rava or sugar in this recipe and use only a tbsp of ghee to toast cashews - raisins. The coconut is enough for binding and so, the remaining 3 tbsp of ghee or milk is not needed. However note that the shelf life of the laddus reduce because of the coconut used. Check here for the recipe.

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Milagu Aval / Pepper Poha

Event: Blogging Marathon #42
Theme: Festival Special ~ Sri Krishnashtami

Poha / Beaten rice flakes is said to be a favorite of Bhagavan Sri Krishna and it is reiterated in the Sudhama story. Sudhama, a childhood friend of Krishna faces adverse conditions later on in his life and upon his wife's advice, decides to visit Krishna in the hope of receiving some help. As they could not afford anything to gift Krishna because of their poverty, his wife packs him a small quantity of poha. However after meeting his friend in Dwaraka and seeing his riches, Sudhama feels embarrassed to present his humble gift. However as nothing can be hidden from Lord Krishna, he himself asks about the gift and enjoys the simple poha. It is mentioned that though Sudhama forgets to ask for the help, Krishna provides riches and comforts to his friend's family. 
And so a savory or a sweet poha dish is usually prepared on the Krishnashtami day. I was looking for a poha dish that I hadn't tried before and came across this spicy, pepper poha. The versions I saw on the web are almost on the similar lines and this is a very quick dish to put together. A simple dish with the hints of pepper and curry leaves' flavors. I have added coconut to tone down the spiciness from the peppercorns.

Ingredients: (2 servings)
2 cups thick poha
3/4 to 1 tsp peppercorns
1 tsp cumin seeds
15 - 20 curry leaves
1 to 2 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp / split, skinned black gram / urad dal
1 tbsp cashews / peanuts
1/4 cup shredded, fresh coconut (Optional but recommended.)
Salt to taste

Method:
* Wash the poha in a colander, drain completely and leave aside the poha for about 5 minutes.
*  Dry grind peppercorns, cumin and curry leaves coarsely in a grinder.
* Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, urad dal and cashews. 
* Toast until mustard starts to pop and cashews turn golden brown. 
* Next add the ground pepper mixture and saute for a few seconds. Then add the poha, coconut and salt. Mix well to combine, cover and cook for about 3 - 4 minutes. 
* Turn off the stove and serve warm.

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