Murukku is one of the most loved snacks in South India. Why? It is fried, crunchy-munchy, goes great with tea or coffee, stays for long and is easy to make if you have the right equipment and follow the procedure accurately. This Butter Murukku is one of the variations which can be touted as a close cousin of the Maharashtrian Chakli. Hence, another name of this snack is easily the Butter Chakli. This recipe is surely for the win as it is scrumptious and tasty.
More on Butter Murukku
As I mentioned in the beginning, Murukku is to South India, what Chakli or chakri is to Maharashtra and Gujarat. While the basic method remains the same, there are other varieties of the murukku, like this Butter Murukku, that can be made by combining different ingredients and their proportions.
The Butter Murukku is one of our favorite snacks too at home. My family swears by this tasty snack, especially during our evening chai sessions. Along with the original chakli and murukku, I make this Butter Chakli during festivals like Diwali too.
This particular recipe of Butter Murukku was shared with me by an avid reader and fan of the blog. She has also shared a lot of other fabulous South Indian recipes in the past. Many of these are now a regular feature in our meals at home. And some are kept for special occasions and festivities.
Rice flour, roasted chana dal flour and gram flour (besan) are the key ingredients in this Butter Chakli recipe. Besides these, there are the usual spices like cumin seeds and asafoetida in it. And obviously a decent quantity of butter, since the name only suggests that.
Making this Butter Murukku is quite easy if you follow the instructions to the T. Also, you will definitely need the special equipment called the ‘chakli maker’ or ‘murukku press’ to prepare these buttery chaklis. Doubling the recipe is also possible.
How to make Butter Murukku
Make Dough
1. Take 1 cup rice flour (150 grams), 1 tablespoon roasted chana dal flour and 2 tablespoons gram flour (besan) in a mixing bowl.
For roasted chana dal flour, grind 1 tablespoon roasted chana dal in a small grinder or coffee grinder till fine. Measure it using a standard tablespoon and then, sift it directly in the sieve containing rice flour and besan.
If you plan to use roasted chana dal flour for preparing more snacks, then you can grind roasted chana in more quantities too. If you do not have roasted chana dal or roasted chana dal flour, then just skip it and add 3 tablespoons of gram flour overall.
2. Add 2 tablespoons salted butter (cold or at room temperature). You can also add unsalted butter.
3. Add ⅓ teaspoon salt.
4. Mix everything and rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips till you get a breadcrumb or sand like texture in the flour mixture.
5. Add ½ teaspoon cumin seeds and ½ teaspoon asafoetida (hing).
6. Mix very well with a spoon or with your hands.
7. Now, add water in portions – about 2 to 4 tablespoons water at a time.
8. Begin to mix and knead the flour.
9. Add water in portions and knead to a smooth, soft dough. I first added 4 tablespoons water and later added 5 tablespoons. Depending on the quality of flours, you can add less or more water.
10. Use the star nozzle lid for preparing murukku. Apply some water in the chakli/murukku maker.
11. Take a portion of the dough and place it inside the murukku maker.
Fry Butter Murukku
12. Heat oil for deep frying in a kadai or pan. Let the oil become medium hot. Check the oil temperature by adding a small piece of the dough.
If the dough comes up gradually and steadily on top, the oil is hot enough to fry. In case it comes up too quickly, then oil is too hot. If it settles down at bottom of kadai or comes up very slowly, the oil is not hot enough.
Remove the fried piece and check the texture. Follow the tips mentioned below:
Tip 1: If the murukku breaks in the oil, the dough is slightly dry. Add a few teaspoons of water. Mix very well and knead the dough again.
Tip 2: If you do not get a proper shape, the dough has become too moist. Add some rice flour and mix well.
Tip 3: Taste the murukku piece and if it feels dense or hard, add 1 to 2 teaspoon more of butter. Mix very well and knead again.
Tip 4: If the murukku looks very oily and has absorbed too much of oil, add a few teaspoons of rice flour and mix again. This happens if there’s’ too much fat in the dough.
13. When the oil is hot enough, press holding the murukku maker directly on top of the oil and let the murukku directly fall in the oil.
Do not over crowd the kadai with murukku. Add as much as needed without overcrowding the kadai.
14. Fry till the murukku are half done or have become slightly crisp. After adding the murukku, do not touch them immediately with the slotted spoon as they break.
They need to become slightly crisp first and then you can turn them over with the slotted spoon.
15. Turn over the murukku with a slotted spoon, so that they get fried evenly.
16. Keep on turning to get them evenly golden. Fry murukku till the sizzling in the oil reduces and they become golden.
17. Remove Butter Murukku with a slotted spoon.
18. Drain murukku on kitchen paper towels to remove excess oil.
19. In the same way, fry all the Butter Chakli in batches.
20. When cooled, store Butter Murukku in an air-tight box or jar. Serve Butter Murukku as a festive snack or tea-time snack.
Expert Tips
- You can prepare the roasted chana dal flour at home. Just grind about 1 tablespoon roasted chana dal (roasted Bengal gram) in a grinder till fine. Then, measure the flour using the standard 1 tablespoon measuring spoon and sieve it together with the rice flour and besan.
- If you don’t have roasted chana dal flour, skip it. Use 3 tablespoons gram flour instead.
- Use good quality and fresh rice flour. The rice flour has to be fine and not coarse.
- You have to knead a soft and smooth dough. The quantity of water will vary depending on the quality of the flours.
- If the dough is slightly dry, the murukku will break in the oil. To correct this, add a few teaspoons of water, mix and knead again.
- In case the dough is too moist or wet, you will not be able to shape it properly. To correct this, add some rice flour and mix well.
- On tasting a murukku piece, if you feel it is too hard, add 1 to 2 teaspoons butter. Mix and knead again.
- If the Butter Chakli looks very oily and has absorbed too much oil, add few teaspoons rice flour and mix again. This happens if the dough has more fat content than needed.
- Want to add some spiciness in these chaklis? Add some red chili powder or green chili paste to the murukku dough.
- Once you have added the murukku in the hot oil for frying, wait till they become slightly crisp. Then, touch them with slotted spoon to turn over. If you will touch immediately, they can break.
FAQs
Murukku is South Indian, chakli is Maharashtrian. Also, the recipe of murukku usually comprises of rice and lentil flours where as chakli recipe has gram flour in addition. Although, both can be shaped in a similar way by using either a chakli maker or murukku press.
You have to increase the quantity of ingredients by 5 times to make about 1 kg of Butter Murukku.
Yes, you can certainly do that.
You can add either. Though, I have added chilled in this recipe.
This is due to the addition of more fat in the dough, than needed. If the chakli is too hard, it means you have added less fat in the dough. Read the tips that I have mentioned in the above section to correct these.
More Diwali Recipes To Try!
Evening Snacks
Evening Snacks
Evening Snacks
Evening Snacks
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Butter Murukku | Butter Chakli
Ingredients
- 1 cup Rice Flour or 150 grams
- 1 tablespoon roasted chana dal flour (porikadalai flour) or 1 tablespoon roasted chana dal ground to a fine flour
- 2 tablespoons gram flour (besan)
- 2 tablespoons salted butter – can swap with unsalted butter
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon asafoetida (hing)
- ⅓ teaspoon salt or add as required
- 9 to 10 tablespoons water or add as required
- oil for deep frying, as needed
Instructions
Making butter murukku dough
- Take rice flour, besan and roasted chana dal flour in a mixing bowl or pan. For roasted chana dal flour, grind 1 tablespoon roasted chana dal in a small grinder or coffee grinder till fine. Measure the flour using 1 tablespoon standard tablespoon. Then sift it directly in the pan containing rice flour and gram flour.
- Add 2 tablespoons salted butter. You can also use unsalted butter.
- Add ⅓ teaspoon salt or as per taste.
- Now mix everything and rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips till you get a breadcrumb like texture in the flour mixture.
- Add cumin seeds and asafoetida (hing).
- Mix very well with a spoon or with your hands.
- Now add water in parts – about 2 to 4 tablespoons at a time. Begin to mix and knead the flour. Add water in parts and knead to a smooth soft dough. I first added 4 tablespoons water and later added 5 tablespoons. Depending on the quality of flours, you can add less or more water.
- Use the star nozzle lid for preparing murukku. Apply some water in the chakli/murukku maker.
- Take a portion of the murukku dough and place it inside the murukku maker.
Frying butter murukku
- Heat oil for deep frying in a kadai or pan.
- Let the oil become medium hot. Check the oil temperature by adding a small piece of the dough.
- If the dough comes up gradually and steadily on top, the oil is hot enough to fry. If it comes up too quickly, then oil is too hot. If it settles down at bottom of kadai or comes up very slowly, the oil is not hot.
- When the oil is hot enough, press holding the chakli maker directly on top of the oil and let the murukku directly fall in the oil.
- Do not over crowd the kadai with murukku. Add as much as needed without overcrowding the kadai.
- Fry till they are half done or have become slightly crisp. After adding the murukku, do not touch them immediately with the slotted spoon as they break. They need to become slightly crisp first and then you can turn them over with the slotted spoon.
- Turn over with a slotted spoon, so that they get fried evenly.
- Keep on turning to get them evenly golden. Fry them till the sizzling in the oil reduces and the butter murukku becomes golden.
- Remove with a slotted spoon and drain them on kitchen paper towels to remove excess oil.
- In the same way fry all the murukku this way in batches. When cooled, store butter murukku in an air-tight box or jar.
Notes
- You can add either softened butter or butter that is cold.
- Scale the recipe easily to make a large batch.
- Ensure that the oil is moderately hot while frying butter murukku.
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This Butter Murukku recipe from the archives, first published in October 2016 has been updated and republished on 20 October 2022.
For 1kg butter murukku…how much ingredients taken???
increase all the recipe ingredients by 5 times for 1 kg butter murukku.
may i add kalonji seeds or nigella seeds instead of cumin seeds??
you can.
Must we add room temperature butter or chilled butter in murukku recipe
you can add either. the one i added was chilled.