Vaishali Vijaykumar By Express News Service CHENNAI : Ninety-year-old Dhanalakshmi takes a lemon-sized dough in her hand and carefully pinches it with three fingers into an elongated long shape. She pulls out small balls of the dough and gently twists each into four or five circles. Multiple batches are prepared before being slid down into the pan of hot oil and fried to a crisp golden brown colour under the watchful eyes of this veteran home chef. Crafted with the right amount of crunch and talent, the making of traditional kai murukku needs more attention than what has been reserved for it, especially in these times of machine-made munchies. Kai murukku is an important part of seer bakshanam ? Ashwin Prasath “A lady used to sell murukku at our place and I learned it from her. I’ve been making it for several decades now. One needs to be meticulous since the steps of making are tricky. Uniformity in the number of twists is important and consistency of the dough plays a big role. People these days either buy or outsource since it’s time-consuming,” says Dhanalakshmi. Back to basics Raw rice flour and urad dal constitute the basic ingredients. The soaked raw rice is laid on a white muslin cloth until the water has completely drained. It is finely powdered. Dry roast the urad dal until it turns a light golden brown. Powder this. Sieve both separately and mix them. Add sesame seeds, jeera, butter, and salt. Add a few drops of water and knead a soft dough. Slightly grease your fingers to ease the process. “Those days when there was no readymade flour, the preparation would begin weeks earlier since it takes time to prepare murukku in batches. Even a minor mistake would ruin the output. So our grandmothers used to take the utmost care in preparation and store them in air-tight jars after making. It used to be our routine snack with tea or coffee. We would also take batches to our relatives for social gatherings,” reminisces 58-year-old Kanchana Mala. A nostalgic affair Kai murukku is an important part of seer bakshanam for functions like marriage, baby shower and other auspicious events at home. It’s prepared a week in advance by elders of the house, who have the expertise in making murukku. The heirloom recipe is passed on by grandmothers and mothers to daughters. Nalina Kannan learned it from her family and she continues to make them at her restaurant Thaligai, and home. “While the ingredients are the same, the method might vary across households. I add butter for softness. It’s better if we do them in batches since they break away easily. Start from the centre point and expand it to two or more rounds. The number of rounds is usually odd. The biggest we’ve made is 13 turns and the shape is traditionally round. Nowadays people make mini versions and try different shapes,” shares Nalina. For many, the making of murukku — grinding, pounding, roasting, giving shape and frying — evokes nostalgia. “It can be fried in coconut oil, regular oil or ghee. One batch takes 10-15 minutes. Kai murukku is meant to be eaten the traditional way. Thenkuzhal and butter murukku are all recent ones made using murukku press. But this one is harder to bite. It’s an art that comes with perfection after years of practice,” says 68-year-old Saraswathi Ramesh. Know your murukku ? Black sesame seeds give a better flavour ? Adding butter makes murukku softer but adding too much will consume extra oil while frying ? Do not use readymade raw rice flour ? If the dough is wet or sticky then use a cloth to absorb excess water ? The leftover dough can be used to make other varieties of murukku using a press Get your kai murukku here Thaligai: 24661512 Ranga Vilas Sweets and Snacks: 26211182 Srivari Sweets: 26265173 Paati Veedu: 48528080 Sri Ramana Kai Murukku: 9941532622

Stay updated with all the Chennai Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.