Chettinad style thenkuzhal murukku recipe was in my try list for years. Recently I had a 2 days trip to Karaikudi, Pillayarpatti and Kundrathur. I visited Karaikudi just to enjoy Chettinad special food. We stayed in Chidambara vilas, heritage resort and had a good time exploring places in Karaikudi. I had Chettinad special vegetarian lunch at The Bangala and enjoyed their food thoroughly. I went to the most popular Soundaram aachi snack shop and bought all the snack items worth Rs.1500.
Among the snacks I tasted, I loved this Chettinad thenkuzhal and seepu seedai. I couldn’t meet Soundaram aachi but I got the recipe and details from the workers. I came to know Chettinad people use IR20 C. R Pachai arisi (Cut vellai pacharisi) for making this thenkuzhal/murukku. They add ghee and roasted urad dal powder to the processed rice flour and make this thenkuzhal. They use a 3 holed murukku mould for shaping it. I enquired them and bought the same from shops in Koppudai Nayaki amman temple street( Bazaar street) in Karaikudi. Here is collage of pictures of IR20 raw rice, thenkuzhal murukku press, Soundaram snacks shop and their products. But I did not try Soundaram aachi's recipe instead I followed the authentic Chettinad thenkuzhal murukku recipe without butter or ghee and tried it.
I referred Solai aachi's thenkuzhal murukku maavu post for the ratio of raw rice and urad dal. Murukku came out super white in color even without using Vanaspati, butter or ghee. Generally Chettinad people make murukku maavu by grinding raw rice and roasted urad dal. They just wash the rice, dry under the shade for a day. Dry roast the urad dal till hot and grind both rice and dal in a flour mill. They store this murukku maavu and make thenkuzhal whenever needed. As we are not using butter or ghee, this murukku would be crunchy and slightly hard to bite. It doesn’t have a melt in mouth texture. You should have a strong teeth to munch this murukku😀.
Its taste will remind the olden days thenkuzhal recipe which our granny's used to make without butter. To make soft murukku, you can add melted butter or ghee but the color of this murukku may change. Finally its your choice of making this murukku with or without butter. Similarly you can try the same recipe with store bought idiyappam flour but results may vary slightly. Friends, do try this easy, yummy Chettinad thenkuzhal recipe for this Diwali and enjoy ! Lets see how to make Chettinad murukku recipe with step by step pictures.
Here is a collage of our stay at Chidambara vilas, heritage resort along with its Chettinad special breakfast.
Chettinad Thenkuzhal Recipe
Chettinad Thenkuzhal Recipe - White murukku recipe without butter or ghee.
Cuisine:
Chettinad
Category:
Snacks
Serves:
15 nos.
Prep time:
180 Minutes
Cook time:
5 Minutes
Total time:
185 Minutes
1 cup - 250ml
- Raw rice / Pacharisi ( IR20 ) – 1 cup ( Maavu arisi)
- White urad dal – 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp
- Salt – as needed
- Ghee – 1 tbsp (Optional, I dint use)
- Water – to knead the dough
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HOW TO MAKE CHETTINAD THENKUZHAL
- To make Chettinad thenkuzhal murukku maavu, wash and soak raw rice in water for one hour.
- Drain the water completely. Spread in a white cloth. Dry under the shade for one day or two.
- After the rice is completely dry, grind to a fine powder. Sieve and set aside.
- Dry roast white, round urad dal without changing its color till hot. Powder and sieve it.
- Add to rice flour, salt, asafetida, melted ghee(If using) and mix well. Add the required water.
- Make smooth dough. Heat oil to deep fry. Press and shape the murukku. Drop in oil.
- Deep fry both sides till bubbles cease. Remove from oil, drain and store in a box.
- Chettinad thenkuzhal is ready. It stays good for a month.
CHETTINAD THENKUZHAL RECIPE - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
- Lets prepare Chettinad thenkuzhal murukku maavu as a first step. For this, wash the maavu pacharisi (IR20 raw rice) and soak in enough water for one to 2 hours. Drain the water and spread the soaked rice in a cotton cloth under shade for one day based on the weather. Do not dry under the sun. Rice should become completely dry. Alternately you can just roast the rice till puffy and grind the rice.
- After the rice is dry, grind in a mixie to a fine powder. Sieve in a wide plate and grind the coarse ones again till smooth. Repeat until all the rice is ground finely.
 
- Dry roast white, round urad dal until hot. Roast it patiently without changing the color. Murukku doesn’t come out white if you roast the dal till golden brown in color. Keep mixing and tossing the dal. When the dal becomes hot, remove from the flame and let it cool down.
- Grind to a smooth powder. Sieve and add to rice flour. Add salt, hing and melted ghee(if adding). Mix well. Then add required water and make a smooth dough. No problem if the dough is slightly sticky.
- Fill the murukku press with the dough ( I sealed 2 holes with a cello tape inside and outside). Heat oil to deep fry. Drop a pinch of dough and check the oil temperature. Keep the flame low to medium and squeeze the murukku over the oil directly OR press the murukku in a greased ladle or a sheet as shown in the picture. Then drop in hot oil. You can put 3 to 4 murukku per batch. Cook both sides by flipping it. Cook till bubbles cease completely.
- Murukku remains white in color if you fry in medium flame by tossing whenever needed. If you have used ghee in the dough, color may change slightly. Remove the murukku from the oil. Drain in a paper towel. Repeat the same in batches. Chettinad thenkuzhal is ready. Cool down the murukku and store in a box. It stays good for a month.
Enjoy !
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Note
- You can wash the rice, dry under shade and grind in a mill else dry roast the rice till puffy and then grind it. Both works well.
- Ratio of rice and urad dal is 2.5 :1. Some recipes use 3:1 too.
- Addition of ghee or butter helps to give soft texture to the murukku but color may not be pure white.
- If you feel the oil has become too hot, you can switch off the flame and cool down the oil. Then make the next batch.
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Chettinad thenkuzhal murukku is ready to enjoy ! Try this for Diwali and share your feedback with me.
