Call it Murukku or Chakodi (The Andhra variation), you know it’s the perfect fried finger food apart from Nimki. As far as I remember from my childhood, my Dadima (grandmom) made it from scratch at least twice a week. A single batch didn’t last for a lot of time in our household because we were always on the go. We liked our snacks non-sticky, or not too fried, so we could eat it while working or even while playing.
That is the beauty of snacks like namak para, mathri, and chakodi. In simple words, they’re easy and ready to eat. As a kid, I would just walk into the kitchen with a Barbie in one hand, and walk out with a wrist full of Murukkus, like bracelets, that I could munch on while I made my Barbie strut around in her heels. As I grew up, I moved from Barbies to books, but my snack didn’t change. It was a bit too spicy for me back then, but you know what they say: are you really having fun with your food if the spice doesn’t make your tongue numb?
You could say I was a cleanliness freak, requiring all my books to be neat and without any smear of food or drink. (This habit comes in handy even now, while I handle papers of actual importance.) And my perfect, spicy spiral came to my rescue yet again. It was not big enough to fit my wrist anymore, but the taste brought back the same warmth and love of my Dadima, and it continued being the best snack ever for me.
As I grew older, I moved to Delhi for my studies for just a year, and though I did not have home-cooked food there, I would take kilograms of Murukku with me. It was slightly excessive, but nothing can replace homemade food, right? I did find another person who made authentic Murukku and sold it from her home, and that was life-changing for me. The taste was almost the same, and you could feel the care that went in making it.
I tried learning how to make Murukkus from my mom and aunt, and it turned out pretty well too. But I could never get it to be as delicious as my Dadima did. However, Murukkus are pretty simple to make and extremely experiment-worthy. The spice is one such factor that you can really go to town with. As a person who grew up in Andhra, I love my savory spice, and I’m going to help you relive your childhood memories with a simple process of making Murukkus, or rather Chakodis.
You only need rice flour, moong dal, ghee, cumin seeds, chili powder, salt, and water to make the dough. Then you knead it and roll it into a rope-like shape. Take a piece of it and join the two edges, making a small circle with it. Do it for the entire dough. Fry it in oil, and voila! You have some delicious, homemade Murukku to snack on while you read our other blogs!
Want to buy some Murukku? Go right here !