Ribbon Pokkodam/Ribbon Pakoda/Ribbon Murukku

Diwali is round the corner and most households would be busy with preparing the sweets and savouries to celebrate the festival. While drafting this post, I can't stop thinking of my MIL, who makes delicious savories. She is an expert in making Kai Murukku and I am yet to learn the art of making them. She meticulously plans, starting with grinding of the rice flour atleast a week before. I love to help her out with the preparations. She keeps one day for all these fried savories and one day for sweets. So we start off with making the Pokkodams/Pakoda and end the day with a sambadam full of mixture. And all this gets ready in 3 to 4 hours. 

Though I have tried my hand at sweets on a regular basis, but I always keep away from the savories. I help her with the dough, but all the work at the stove is usually done by MIL. But this year, I am alone here and wanted to try my hand at it. I must the result was really good. My kids and husband loved the savouries.

So here comes the first one in the list. Keep watching the space for more recipes.

What you’ll need

1. Rice Flour – 2 cup
2. Kadala Maavu/Besan – 1 cup
3. Butter – 2 tbsp
4. Chilly Powder – ½ tsp
5. Asafoetida Powder – ¼ tsp
6. Salt to taste
7. Oil to deep fry

Nazhi/Murukku Press

Method

1. Heat a Kadai with oil to deep fry.
2. In the meanwhile, in a wide bowl, add riceflour, besan, butter, asafoetida, chilli powder and salt.
3. Mix everything well.
4. Now add water little by little and make a smooth dough. The dough should not be too tight or too loose.
5. Place a golf sized ball of the prepared dough in the nazhi/murukku press.
6. Check if oil is ready by dropping a tiny drop of the dough in the oil, if it rises up immediately then the oil is ready.
7. Lower the heat, and squeeze out the dough in a circular motion into the oil from the nazhi.
8. Keep heat in medium and fry by flipping the pakoda once or twice in between.
9. Remove from oil when the bubbles in the have almost subsided.
10. Drain on tissues.
11. Repeat the same with remaining dough.
12. Drain and cool then store in airtight container.

Notes:

1.  Homemade rice flour works best and tastes best, though store bought flour will do too.
2. If making in large quantities, mix all dry ingredients in a big bowl and take small portions and mix water to make dough.
3. If the dough is kept for too long, then the pakodas will become very red on frying.
4. You can add some sesame seeds in the dough.
5. If the dough is too tight, then it will be very difficult to squeeze out pakoda. And if too loose, then the pakodas will get cut while squeezing also, they will drink too much oil.
6. While storing make sure the pakodas are cooled completely before closing them in the airtight containers, else the vapour will condense and the pakodas will lose their crispiness.