Chakli

On my last visit to India my Mom gave me the Chakli press. Chakli or muruku has a special place in my memories of Diwali celebrations as a kid. It is a crunchy, yummy deep-fried snack. Mom used to make loads of these and we could never have enough. The Chakli press is used to make the spiral shape, but if you don't have one you can also use the icing bag with the star nozzle. This Diwali, I made these snacks to refresh childhood memories. I was never an expert at making these, but my chakli press made it very easy. The result was a wonderfully tasty snack which was devoured by my husband in batches, who calls it "Phirki"! Thank you Mom, for all the wonderful treats you made us and the inspiration that you are for me!

Here's what you'll need:

• Rice flour 3 cups
• Butter 1/2 cup
• Urad daal 1/2 cup
• Cumin seeds (jeera) 1 tspn
• Sesame seeds (Til) 1 tspn
• Oil for frying
• Salt to taste
• Milk/water

Roast the urad dal to a light brown and then make a powder of it. Mix the urad powder and rice flour and add melted warm(not hot) butter to it. Incorporate the butter nicely into the flour mixture and then add cumin,sesame and salt to taste. Now add milk or water to it slowly to make dough like the chapati dough. The dough should not be very soft.


Heat the oil in a deep frying vessel. Fill the dough in the chakli press mold(or pastry bag) and use the star-shaped plate to make spiral shapes on a butter paper or plastic. Check the heat of the oil by dropping a piece of dough, if it sizzles and floats on top, the oil is ready. Drop the chakli shapes carefully in this hot oil and keep frying on a medium-high till they are golden brown and look crispy.




Drain on a paper towel and cool before storing them in air-tight containers. These have a shelf-life of up to a month. Serve with tea or eat whenever you have a craving for a crispy snack.