Butter Murukku | Butter Chakli

Making butter murukku dough

1. Take rice flour, besan and roasted chana dal flour in a mixing bowl or pan. For roasted chana dal flour, grind 1 tablespoon roasted chana dal in a small grinder or coffee grinder till fine. Measure the flour using 1 tablespoon standard tablespoon. Then sift it directly in the pan containing rice flour and gram flour.
2. Add 2 tablespoons salted butter. You can also use unsalted butter.
3. Add ⅓ teaspoon salt or as per taste.
4. Now mix everything and rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips till you get a breadcrumb like texture in the flour mixture.
5. Add cumin seeds and asafoetida (hing).
6. Mix very well with a spoon or with your hands.
7. Now add water in parts - about 2 to 4 tablespoons at a time. Begin to mix and knead the flour. Add water in parts and knead to a smooth soft dough. I first added 4 tablespoons water and later added 5 tablespoons. Depending on the quality of flours, you can add less or more water.
8. Use the star nozzle lid for preparing murukku. Apply some water in the chakli/murukku maker.
9. Take a portion of the murukku dough and place it inside the murukku maker.

Frying butter murukku

1. Heat oil for deep frying in a kadai or pan.
2. Let the oil become medium hot. Check the oil temperature by adding a small piece of the dough.
3. If the dough comes up gradually and steadily on top, the oil is hot enough to fry. If it comes up too quickly, then oil is too hot. If it settles down at bottom of kadai or comes up very slowly, the oil is not hot.
4. When the oil is hot enough, press holding the chakli maker directly on top of the oil and let the murukku directly fall in the oil.
5. Do not over crowd the kadai with murukku. Add as much as needed without overcrowding the kadai.
6. Fry till they are half done or have become slightly crisp. After adding the murukku, do not touch them immediately with the slotted spoon as they break. They need to become slightly crisp first and then you can turn them over with the slotted spoon.
7. Turn over with a slotted spoon, so that they get fried evenly.
8. Keep on turning to get them evenly golden. Fry them till the sizzling in the oil reduces and the butter murukku becomes golden.
9. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain them on kitchen paper towels to remove excess oil.
10. In the same way fry all the murukku this way in batches. When cooled, store butter murukku in an air-tight box or jar.