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You are here: Home / Reddiar Recipes / Kai Murukku | Raw Rice Murukku | Step by Step Diwali Snacks Recipes

Kai Murukku | Raw Rice Murukku | Step by Step Diwali Snacks Recipes

November 24, 2015 25 Comments

Ah. Kai Murukku or Sakkiram, as we Kerala Reddiars call it, is one of those things that holds so many memories for me. This is one of those foods I associate with my maternal grand mom. Back when I was a kid, making Sakkiram was always an event. The rice would be carefully selected (my dad was a rice dealer after all), the process of soaking and drying and powdering carefully handled, the oil bought, the single-burner gas stove brought out and set on the kitchen floor, the largest steel plates brought out, washed, dried and oiled to be used as the base for the murukku, and the kitchen cleared out one day early afternoon for the murukku making to commence.

Kai Murukku | Raw Rice Murukku | Snacks Recipes

As I type this, I can visualise those humid Kerala evenings when the house would fill with the aroma of coconut oil and the sizzle of the sakkirams will reach us kids where we are playing or whiling away time doing pretty much nothing useful.

Kai Murukku | Raw Rice Murukku | Snacks Recipes

Everything my grandmom used to do, especially cooking, was a labour of love. She never took shortcuts, never skimped on effort, was patient and painstakingly meticulous in everything she did (although patience was not a virtue of hers in general) and kai murukku / sakkiran was no exception.

Since we always made them in bulk, there would at least be 4 people involved in the preparation process, one person exclusively doing the deep frying – usually the maid. My mom, her elder sister, and their mother would sit on the kitchen floor, saris hoisted to a comfortable height, pallus tucked in and start on one batch of the murukku dough. Each of them gave a unique twist, quite literally, to the murukku and the kids would attempt to guess who made which ones once everything was fried.

Sometimes I try not to think that those summer days are long gone never to return. We are supposed to move ahead, after all.

More Diwali snacks from Edible Garden:
Thenkuzhal murukku
Tamil style mixture
Thattai

Kai Murukku | Raw Rice Murukku | Sakkiram Recipe

Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Makes ~20 pieces
Recipe source: Amma and Aatha

Ingredients:
1 cup of raw rice, soaked in water for 1 hour
1/3 cup of split urad dal / ulutham paruppu
1 tbsp of black sesame seeds
1 tbsp of white sesame seeds (see notes)
1 tsp of crushed jeera / cumin seeds (optional)
2 tsp of softened butter
Salt of to taste
Oil of to deep fry (we use coconut oil)

How to Make Kai Murukku

1. Lay the soaked raw rice on a white cheesecloth or muslin until the water has completely drained. You can also use a colander, just make sure to spread it in a thin layer so that maximum water can drain out. Powder this fine and set aside. If you feel it’s moist after powdering, lay it on the cloth (or even a large plate) again so that it gets drier.

2. Dry roast the urad dal until it turns aromatic and a light golden brown. Powder this finely.

3. Sieve both the rice powder and the urad dal (separately) into a large bowl. The coarse rice bits that you get can be ground again and passed through the sieve to minimise wastage.

4. Mix both the powders with the sesame seeds, jeera (if using), butter and salt.

Kai Murukku | Raw Rice Murukku | Snacks Recipes

5. Once the ingredients are thoroughly combined, add water very little at a time and knead into a soft dough. The consistency is important and it only gets perfect with practise but there are some tips to make it work even if you are a novice (see notes).

Kai Murukku | Raw Rice Murukku | Snacks Recipes

6. Here’s the part that needs a bit of practise to get perfect. Take a lemon-sized dough in hand and gently pinch with three fingers into a long-ish shape. Twist gently and form a circular pattern of about 4-5 turns. This video, although in tamil, demos this process very well. My mom and her sister are experts and get the shape beautifully because they’ve been doing this for years so don’t be put off if yours doesn’t come out well the first time. Keep your fingers moist and lightly greased to make the process easier.

We use the greased, upturned steel plate for this. A plastic sheet works well too.

Kai Murukku | Raw Rice Murukku | Snacks Recipes

Repeat process until you have about 8-10 murukku ready to be fried..

Kai Murukku | Raw Rice Murukku | Snacks Recipes

7. Heat oil until almost-smoking point and slide a thin spatula under each murukku swiftly to transfer it to the spatula without losing its shape. Gently slide into the hot oil and fry until brown. It helps greatly if the spatula is lightly greased with oil too.The rule of thumb is, stop and drain the murukku when the oil no longer sizzles around it.

Kai Murukku | Raw Rice Murukku | Snacks Recipes

Kai Murukku | Raw Rice Murukku | Snacks Recipes

We prefer ours not too red but you can judge by the colour how much you want to fry. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks. I keep it in the refrigerator for longer.

Kai Murukku | Raw Rice Murukku | Snacks Recipes

Notes:

– you can use just one kind of sesame seeds if you don’t have both varieties. The black ones have a better flavour when fried so go for that if you only want to use one.

– butter makes the murukku softer but adding too much will make the dough too soft and the murukku will drink too much oil. Err on the lower side than adding a higher quantity of butter than needed

– if the dough is too wet and sticky, wrap in a clean kitchen towel/cheesecloth/muslin and let it sit for 10 mins. The cloth will absorb the extra moisture and you can proceed with the rest of the murukku recipe. If it’s too dry, wet hands and pinch off a bit of dough to work with. Having a drier dough is a better problem to have because it’s easier to fix

– using readymade raw rice powder won’t work well for kai murukku because what we get to buy is roasted raw rice (done to improve shelf life) which would’ve lost much of its starchiness required to make kai murukku. If you can get your hands on unroasted raw rice powder somehow, then that’s worth a shot.

– If you are working alone, it’s better to knead a little dough at a time, otherwise it will start to ferment, turn sour, and make the murukku too red in colour when frying. It also compromises the taste

– you can use the same dough and make achu murukku – with the murukku press – which is much quicker and easier

– admittedly, I haven’t tried making kai murukku myself. All pics are sent to me by amma and mama (her brother). If you have questions, leave it in the comments section and I will get back. Let’s learn together 🙂

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By nags Filed Under: Reddiar Recipes, Snacks and Appetisers, Tamil Recipes, Uncategorized

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Anonymous

    April 8, 2013 at 10:27 am

    I have a question. This recipe is actually categorised under quick snacks but then this doesnt seem to be anywhere quick in making. ???

    Reply
  2. Unknown

    March 19, 2013 at 7:45 am

    i tried murukku yest.taste came good.but i tried to make in that shape which ur grandma making,it doesnt work.can u post its vedio too.

    Reply
  3. Janani

    November 25, 2012 at 1:50 am

    wow what a perfection they look so good so professional I can see ur grandmas hand in that .We cant beat their experience thanks for sharing this post naga.

    Reply
  4. devi srinivasan

    November 12, 2012 at 12:07 pm

    Hi nags,

    I made the Murukku, ended up adding too much butter and ideas to save the batter?
    It's so buttery that only my son can eat it and he is fallen head over heels for it..:))
    btw awesome blog..love it!
    Thanks

    Reply
  5. Ashok

    November 12, 2012 at 11:16 am

    Nags…a quick question…we get so many varieties of rice…any preferences when it comes to making this recipe.
    Thanks & Wishing U a Blissful & Happy Diwali.

    Reply
  6. RAKS KITCHEN

    September 13, 2012 at 12:34 pm

    When my grandma makes it exactly looks like this, sigh, I wish I can get few of those murukkus now 😀

    Reply
  7. Madhavi

    September 8, 2012 at 2:28 am

    Awww lovely murukky..looks great!!!

    http://vegetarianmedley.blogspot.com/

    Reply
  8. Javelin Warrior

    September 7, 2012 at 2:09 pm

    These are so beautiful! I love the shape and intricacy of each – they're almost too perfect to eat… I'm featuring this post in today's Food Fetish Friday (with a link-back and attribution as always). Thank you so much for keeping me inspired with such delicious creations…

    Reply
  9. Shinta

    September 7, 2012 at 10:02 am

    Lovely post, Im not so much a murruku fan, but Im suddenly longing for some. You're right about the memories of childhood, somehow, as we grow older we try to replicate tastes of childhood that we used to take for granted. Tables turned, I guess our mothers would say.

    Reply
  10. Anjali

    September 7, 2012 at 3:46 am

    What a beautiful post and an experienced hand shows! Just for this I want to try it out. Let me see if I can do it this weekend.

    Reply
  11. Shabitha Karthikeyan

    September 6, 2012 at 11:26 pm

    Tempting ones. Never tried my hands n this. Perfectly done !!

    Reply
  12. divya

    September 6, 2012 at 9:38 pm

    Feel like munching some right now..

    Reply
  13. tisflashpoint

    September 6, 2012 at 4:49 pm

    I simply love this.. feel like having some right now, but my just today I got a tooth pulled out.. Terrible i say 🙁

    Reply
  14. dassana

    September 6, 2012 at 11:58 am

    this is one of those murukkus out of the fried chips and snacks which dad would get us from kerala. i have never tried making them at home. when i used to see the beautifully twisted pattern, i used to think there must be a special mould to make these…. much of practice is needed to make these by hand…

    can i use ready rice flour to make these murukkus?

    Reply
    • Nagalakshmi V

      September 14, 2012 at 5:07 am

      using readymade raw rice powder won't work well for kai murukku because what we get to buy is roasted raw rice (done to improve shelf life) which would've lost much of its starchiness required to make kai murukku. If you can get your hands on unroasted raw rice powder somehow, then that's worth a shot.

      Reply
  15. Chitra

    September 6, 2012 at 11:28 am

    Looks perfect. I too referred the same video & made for gokulashtami..Useful post 🙂

    Reply
  16. jeyashrisuresh

    September 6, 2012 at 7:57 am

    This kai murruku looks perfect and quite tempting too

    Reply
  17. Priya

    September 6, 2012 at 7:54 am

    Feel like munching some, am yet to try this kai murukku at home.

    Reply
  18. Farah Saleem azeez

    September 6, 2012 at 6:20 am

    oh wow! looks so perfect! might take years for me to perfect these! its an art! sigh!

    Reply
  19. Hope

    September 6, 2012 at 6:03 am

    Excellent post, Nags…kai murukku been my fav forever!

    Reply
  20. Veena Theagarajan

    September 6, 2012 at 5:57 am

    Nags, I tried couple of times and gave up.. Nice post… It brought me back to my childhood days where the process of making snack is very similar at my grandma house.. I love to have couple of murukku and tea for my snack time today

    Great-secret-of-life.blogspot.com

    Reply
  21. Joyful

    September 6, 2012 at 5:49 am

    These snacks look like they take some serious preparation 🙂 No wonder you have such fond memories of your childhood. I think you should savour the memories and not feel guilty. Good memories sustain us.

    Reply
  22. StarzzSpace

    September 6, 2012 at 5:38 am

    I so use to love eating it while in bangalore and my telugu friend use to get from home 🙂

    Reply
  23. Nivedhanams Sowmya

    September 6, 2012 at 5:28 am

    have this on my list for long!!!! nice and helpful recipe.. thanks

    Sowmya

    Ongoing Event – Coconut

    Reply
  24. ramya anand

    September 6, 2012 at 5:07 am

    Iam plannin to try this for a long time…need to muster courage !

    Reply

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I am Nags, the face behind Edible Garden, a food and recipes website for the busy (and sometimes lazy!) cook since 2007. My recipes are meant to be quick yet healthy and delicious - Nothing fancy, nothing too difficult. Follow Me On Instagram for real-time food and life updates.

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