The trials of creating a simple murruku
I actually just remembered that I have been meaning to write about something for the past few days - but I forgot about it and then whilst looking over for some ideas for tonight's dinner - I remembered.
First of all - yes I still do search the web for recipes. And yes - I still need my note book when I cook. I will share the pic of my worn and food stained note book some other time. But yes I un ashamedly need my note book when I cook. If in any case my notebook is stolen or lost - I will have to stop cooking till i remember and that means really pathetic lunch and dinners for hubby. So no - we are not taking those risks. Anyways - I'm not here to talk about my lack of memory when I cook - I want to blog about my attempts in making murukku.
I had this housewifey hormones last Wednesday and I decided to make mini cashew nut murukku. They were so small and cute and the ingredients were simple enough, and I had the tools with me. So why not? I jumped right in. You see - the thing about these bloggers who cook and post amazing pics taken with expensive cameras are - they don't exactly tell you the pains of coming up with such posts.
I will tell you what happened. At the end of this post - I will give you the link to the site where I got this receipe. That lady did a splendid job of posting a pic for every step of the process. So you are not totally at loss there. I followed exactly the same process. The dough was nice and ready. The oil was hot and ready. The damn murukku machine ( I don't know what they call it - its used to press idiyappam as well) - was oiled and ready as well. I lowered the heat of the oil - while I loaded the murruku machine with the dough and started to make it.
Heres the issues I faced:
1) My tool was not the pressing type - its the rotating type. You need to keep rotating the thing on top for the tool to wind down and press the dough out.
2) My dough was slightly dry - it did not turn out the way I wanted.
3) I was not able to see how the damn thing was churning out. Imagine me - standing and rotating that thing. But I cannot see anything! It was blind side all over.
4) My first batch - well they did not come up with the shape I made - instead they all broke into pieces when I threw them in to the oil. Yes - I threw. I wasn't brave enough to tip them into the oil.
So I made adjustments.
First - took a chair. Sat down. Took the tool and started to rotatate that thing - so that now i can see the dough tailing out.
Second - I realized I was holding that tool wrongly. I was holding it on my left hand and rotating it on my right. But I was holding that tool real tight - it hurt. I then understood that all I have to do is hold that machine lightly and rotate it with my right hand - and find out which way I was rotating best. It worked. I was able to come up with perfect small coils.
Oh before that - I sprinkled water into the dough to have them hydrated so that they will not break when I churn them out.
Third - Throwing the murrukus were definitely not a good idea.
The blogger already mentioned that the best method was to line a steel or metal plate with oil and then let it slide in oil. I didn't let it slide - cos I find the murukkus were joining together to form tri-murrkus - so I flipped the plate. And they fried well and good.
They came out well and tasty. Hubby was surprised I made it and kid loved it too. Actually I have no pic to post it here...cos we finished the batch I made 2 days ago. It was just 1 cup of rice flour - so it was not much actually. Just one small plastic container full. I will make more soon and will post a pic of it.
My point is this - when you check out the receipes - especially the ones you have never ever tried - and most importantly with tools you have never used - it will be a good idea to use a small quantity of food and equally small amount of expectation on the process of it. It will look darn easy on the site or blog - but to actually do it - takes time. I was sweating and sweating when I made those because I had to churn the murukkus and fry them myself ( ala my mum style). It looked easy when my mum did it - but its not.
But that does not mean - you don't try it.
I have made many firsts - and every time I attempt something new and complicated - I am proud. You see - I have seen my mum make murrukus every year and she slogs over it. Maybe I hated making stuffs for rayas because of that - but then - I don't think you have to wait for the next raya or festive occasion to try out something complicated. You can always start small and try it. When its a success - try coming up with more than one cup of anything and see where it lands. We have planned to make more of those mini murrukkus this weekend - cos its such a wonderful snack - but to be eaten only for tea. And hubby said he will help as well making it a fun project to do.
Receipes for the Mini cashew murruku
First of all - yes I still do search the web for recipes. And yes - I still need my note book when I cook. I will share the pic of my worn and food stained note book some other time. But yes I un ashamedly need my note book when I cook. If in any case my notebook is stolen or lost - I will have to stop cooking till i remember and that means really pathetic lunch and dinners for hubby. So no - we are not taking those risks. Anyways - I'm not here to talk about my lack of memory when I cook - I want to blog about my attempts in making murukku.
I had this housewifey hormones last Wednesday and I decided to make mini cashew nut murukku. They were so small and cute and the ingredients were simple enough, and I had the tools with me. So why not? I jumped right in. You see - the thing about these bloggers who cook and post amazing pics taken with expensive cameras are - they don't exactly tell you the pains of coming up with such posts.
I will tell you what happened. At the end of this post - I will give you the link to the site where I got this receipe. That lady did a splendid job of posting a pic for every step of the process. So you are not totally at loss there. I followed exactly the same process. The dough was nice and ready. The oil was hot and ready. The damn murukku machine ( I don't know what they call it - its used to press idiyappam as well) - was oiled and ready as well. I lowered the heat of the oil - while I loaded the murruku machine with the dough and started to make it.
Heres the issues I faced:
1) My tool was not the pressing type - its the rotating type. You need to keep rotating the thing on top for the tool to wind down and press the dough out.
2) My dough was slightly dry - it did not turn out the way I wanted.
3) I was not able to see how the damn thing was churning out. Imagine me - standing and rotating that thing. But I cannot see anything! It was blind side all over.
4) My first batch - well they did not come up with the shape I made - instead they all broke into pieces when I threw them in to the oil. Yes - I threw. I wasn't brave enough to tip them into the oil.
So I made adjustments.
First - took a chair. Sat down. Took the tool and started to rotatate that thing - so that now i can see the dough tailing out.
Second - I realized I was holding that tool wrongly. I was holding it on my left hand and rotating it on my right. But I was holding that tool real tight - it hurt. I then understood that all I have to do is hold that machine lightly and rotate it with my right hand - and find out which way I was rotating best. It worked. I was able to come up with perfect small coils.
Oh before that - I sprinkled water into the dough to have them hydrated so that they will not break when I churn them out.
Third - Throwing the murrukus were definitely not a good idea.
The blogger already mentioned that the best method was to line a steel or metal plate with oil and then let it slide in oil. I didn't let it slide - cos I find the murukkus were joining together to form tri-murrkus - so I flipped the plate. And they fried well and good.
They came out well and tasty. Hubby was surprised I made it and kid loved it too. Actually I have no pic to post it here...cos we finished the batch I made 2 days ago. It was just 1 cup of rice flour - so it was not much actually. Just one small plastic container full. I will make more soon and will post a pic of it.
My point is this - when you check out the receipes - especially the ones you have never ever tried - and most importantly with tools you have never used - it will be a good idea to use a small quantity of food and equally small amount of expectation on the process of it. It will look darn easy on the site or blog - but to actually do it - takes time. I was sweating and sweating when I made those because I had to churn the murukkus and fry them myself ( ala my mum style). It looked easy when my mum did it - but its not.
But that does not mean - you don't try it.
I have made many firsts - and every time I attempt something new and complicated - I am proud. You see - I have seen my mum make murrukus every year and she slogs over it. Maybe I hated making stuffs for rayas because of that - but then - I don't think you have to wait for the next raya or festive occasion to try out something complicated. You can always start small and try it. When its a success - try coming up with more than one cup of anything and see where it lands. We have planned to make more of those mini murrukkus this weekend - cos its such a wonderful snack - but to be eaten only for tea. And hubby said he will help as well making it a fun project to do.
Receipes for the Mini cashew murruku
