Diwali is not complete without making some snacks and sweets at home.

One of the fav diwali snack item is murukku. These crunchy snack is great with a cup of tea or coffee.

Make this 'Moong Dal Murukku' in bulk and store it in an air tight container. These will last for a few weeks even after diwali.

Equipment

Murukku Press

Ingredients

• Moong dal
• Rice flour – 2 cups
• Water – 1 ½ cup
• Roasted cumin powder – 2 tsp
• Hot oil – 1 tbsp
• Water for dough preparation
• Salt as per taste
• Oil for deep frying

Preparation Method:

Cooking moong dal:

1. Clean moong dal and wash with water. Add water 1 ½ cup.
2. Pressure cook moong dal until it is soft enough to handle.
3. Allow the pressure to release slowly and mash the cooked dal into fine texture.
4. Let cool this mixture until its warm enough to handle. Do not cool the cooked dal completely.

Making dough for Murukku:

1. Take rice flour in a mixing bowl, add roasted cumin, salt as per taste.
2. Add one tbsp hot oil and mix everything well. When pressed the flour should come together as seen in the video.
3. Mix everything well and then add mashed dal, mix again.
4. Add 1 or 2 tbsp water at a time and knead to prepare dough.
5. Make a soft pliable dough by adding little water at a time. Do not add too much water.
6. Keep dough closed for 15 minutes. This helps the flavours to blend well with flour.
7. In the mean while prepare the chakli presser. Apply any oil on the inner surface of chakli presser.

How to make Murukku:

1. Moong dal chakli dough can be divided into 3 or 4 parts as per the size of the presser.
2. Make log of the dough and fill the murukku maker. Close the lid and press it downwards to shape the dough into spirals. I usually make 4 or 5 medium sized spiral chakli in one batch.
3. Tightly press the ends to secure the edges.
4. Now Heat oil in a deep-frying pan on medium heat. Check heat of oil by dropping a small bit of dough into oil. The dough ball should rise slowly to the surface. This indicates oil is perfect to deep fry chakli.
5. Carefully drop the moong dal murukku one at time and do not overcrowd the frying pan. Do not disturb them for a minute, later turn them over.
6. After 2 to 3 minutes, sizzling of oil stops and chakli settles at the bottom of pan. This indicates murukku is done.
7. Remove them oil and drain crispy tasty chakli on kitchen tissue to remove excess oil.
8. Cool the fried murukku and store them in airtight container. 
9. Serve them with coffee or tea. Enjoy as evening snack with your loved ones.