Chakli Press or Murukku

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Chakli Press or Murukku

Murukus originated in South Indian cooking mainly in the Tamil Nadu cuisine. They are also known as Chakli, Chakri. These are very popular in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat because of their taste and easy preparation. They are made using a Chakli press or also known as a muruku maker.

The traditional Chakli press is made of brass. It has two cylinders: one hollow with two handles at the bottom and a solid or closed cylinder with two handles at the top. The solid cylinder can slide in smoothly into the hollow cylinder. The hollow cylinder has a threaded base which accommodates different brass plates with different shapes cut out in them. The Chakli press comes with 5 to 6 plates with different designs to create different extruded shapes of the Chakli dough. The creative use of this press can generate a whole variety of different shapes of snacks.

These are now widely available in the South Indian states as a delicious crunchy snack. One advantage of these is that Chaklis/murukus can be prepared and stored in an airtight dabba or jar for long periods for consumption.

Muruku is typically made from a mixture of urad and rice flour, salt, and flavourings such as chilli, asafoetida, ajawain or cumin.

Chakli Press or Muruku maker along with different brass plates

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Method of Making Chakli
Ingredients:
Rice flour - 5 cups
Butter- ¾ cup
Urad daal 4-5 tea spoons
Cumin seeds (Jeera) 1 tea spoon
Sesame seeds (Til) 1 tea spoon
sufficient quantities of salt, milk and oil for frying.

Process:
Roast urad daal (without oil) till they turn slightly brownish and powder them.
Add the powder, butter, cumin seeds, sesame seeds and salt to rice flour and mix well. Now add milk/water to it. Slowly mix it to remove any lumps. Make it into dough (like chapathi dough) by kneading the dough well on a flat board.

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Fit the Chakli press with a plate which has the required shape to help extrude the dough. Fill the Chakli press base unit with the dough and press into Chakli shape on a flat board (use a plastic paper on the board to make it easier to lift the Chaklis).

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With the help of the top unit the dough gets pressed out or gets mechanically extruded through the hole in the bottom plate and these unique Chakli forms (a spiral or a coil) are obtained.

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Heat oil in a kadai and deep fry the Chaklis. Drain out on a paper napkin.

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When the fried Chaklis are cooled to room temperature, they can be stored in any airtight container.

Murukku can also be rolled into a flat ribbon (ribbon Murukku) using a different plate which has a slit in place of hole. Sev (made using gram flour) is also obtained using this Chakli press fitted with plates which have holes of varying diameters as per the requirement.

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