Chakli, Chakali, Muruku, Chakuli

I’ve loved the whole chakuli-making process since I was a child. Making chakulis shortly before chauthi (the Ganesh festival) and on the day of chauthi was always a lot of fun thanks to my large family! My mom, my grandmothers, my aunts, and the kids 🙂 all came together to create crispy, crunchy, delicious chakulis. It was a true collaborative effort. And we had to prepare a lot of chakulis since we needed enough for our large family and relatives (relatives of every single member in our family :-), so that’s n*n). Plus, because we worshiped the Lord Ganesha statue in our home for two days during the Ganesh festival, it’s tradition to present chakulis to all our relatives. 

Lord Ganesh’s favorite foods are chakulis and laddoos, according to legend. As a result, they must be made for his event. During the chakuli manufacturing process, while my mother and aunts were sweating it out in the kitchen, we kids were busy devouring chakulis one after the other. The elders of the family also come in one by one, and the chakulis that have been prepared vanish in a flash. We began assisting with the chakuli pressing process as we got older, since the work may be arduous when making a large number of chakulis. I like tasting the chakuli dough as well. It has a fantastic flavor. You may make chakuli out of the dough and consume them in layers. That’s even more delicious! 🙂 As a result, my mother or aunts had to chase me away for emptying the chakulis, as their efforts were in futile when I ate the squeezed chakulis. As naivedyam, we would prepare a special batch of chakulis for Ganesha on his arrival day. (If we prepared them sooner, one of us would consume them by mistake.) We could only eat them after naivedyam. Our mothers really kept it hidden in secret locations to keep it safe.) Oh, the memories!! 

Lord Ganapathi is the recipient of a colossal chakuli. It’s shown in the image below:

I’m curious about what it’s like in your home during festivals. Please share your experiences with me. 🙂

You can create delicious chakulis in a variety of ways. Here’s a quick and easy way to make crispy, crunchy chakulis. 

Ingredients:

• rice flour (250g)
• 100g split black lentils/urad dal
• a couple of teaspoons of butter
• season with salt to taste
• 2-3 tablespoons ajwain (sesame seeds)
• Turmeric, a pinch
• For deep frying, oil 
• Chakuli Press is a publishing house based in India.

Method of Preparation:

Preparing urad dal powder: If you can get urad dal powder at the shop, you can save some time and work. If you don’t, then follow the instructions below:

1. In a wok, heat store-bought urad dal until it begins to brown slightly. Saute to ensure even roasting.
2. Once it has cooled fully, mix it into a fine powder in a blender.
3. Sieve the urad dal powder to remove any larger particles of urad dal, leaving only fine urad dal powder.
4. Set aside the flour.

Getting the rice flour ready:

1. In a wok, heat store-bought rice flour until it is hot when touched with your fingertips. 
2. After that, set it aside to cool fully. 
3. If you can’t get rice flour, you can create your own.

Preparing the dough for chakulis entails the following steps:

1. In a mixing basin, combine rice flour and urad dal powder.
2. Add salt and turmeric to them and stir thoroughly. 
3. Add sesame seeds/ajwain seeds to the mixture and stir thoroughly. 
4. Add the butter and water little by little to the ingredients and knead it into a dry, pleasant dough similar to chapathi dough. 
5. Heat the oil in a deep fryer for the chakulis. Reduce the heat to a low setting.
6. Mix in 3 tablespoons of heated oil into the dough.
7. If your dough is too wet, add a little hot rice flour at a time to thicken it up.
8. Place the dough in a chakuli presser and press out chakulis as shown below.
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11. Preheat the oil to medium-high heat and cook the chakulis in batches until golden brown.
12. Make sure your oil isn’t overcrowded. 
13. Drain the excess oil from the chakulis by placing them on a tissue paper.
14. After the chakulis have cooled, keep them in an airtight container.
15. Use the plates that come with the presser to make chakulis in the thickness of your choosing.

Suggestions for equipment:

I create muruku sev using a muruku maker like this one. It’s a solid piece that’s been in the home for over 20 years. It’s also simple to operate. This one, on the other hand, is less expensive and constructed of steel. 

Rice noodles (shevai, sheviya, idiyappam) may also be made using the above-mentioned press. 

Crunchy Rice Vadas (Tandla Vado), Fried Pumpkin Seeds (Bhajil Dudde Bee), and Plantain Chips are all excellent traditional Konkani home snacks known as dabbe khaan in Konkani (Banana Chips)

Chakuli, muruku, Ganesh Chaturthi, naivedyam, Konkani cuisine, Konkani food, Konkani dish,

ashtami

Frequently Asked Questions

Why my murukku is not crispy?

There are a few reasons why this might be happening. One is that the dough was not kneaded enough, which means it does not have enough gluten to become crispy. Another reason is that you did not cook it long enough, or the oil was too hot when you were cooking it.

What does chakli mean?

Chakli is a type of Indian bread.

Why does chakli become soft?

Chakli is a type of dough that becomes soft when it is cooked.