Garlic Murukku/Poondu Murukku Recipe – Easy Murukku Varieties

• Rice flour/Idiyappam flour – 1 cup
• Besan flour/Kadalai maavu – 1/3 cup
• Softened butter –  3/4 to 1 tbsp (Unmelted)
• Hot oil – 1 tsp
• Salt & water – as needed
• Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp ( optional)

To grind

• Garlic cloves – 5 nos
• Red chillies – 2-3 nos ( I used 2 spicy chillies)
• Water – 1 tbsp ( To soak)

• Peel garlic cloves.Soak garlic and red chillies in 1tbsp water ( you can use hot water too).Let it soak for 10 minutes. Then grind it to a paste adding the soaked water.It won’t grind to a smooth paste as the quantity is less. So grind it continuously for a minute, wipe the jar and grind it till it turns smooth.Don’t worry , it looks watery after grinding. But make sure there are no garlic pieces or chilli seeds. It may block the chakli nozzle while squeezing.
  
  
• In a wide bowl, take the rice flour, besan flour, salt and sieve it. To this, add softened butter.Heat oil in a mini pan and add 1 tsp hot oil to the murukku mixture. Add ground garlic paste. Mix well to spread the butter and oil with the flour. Check for salt. Add more if needed. Then add water little by little and make a smooth dough. No problem if the dough is slightly sticky.
  
  
• Take the star mould and keep in the murukku press/Chakli press. Fill the mould with the dough and squeeze it to make a round, concentric circle. You can press the murukku in a butter paper or polythene sheet. Cover the remaining dough with a wet cloth or a plastic cover. This dough may tighten over time.So if needed, sprinkle some water, mix well and press it.
  
• Heat oil in a kadai and when it gets heated, drop a pinch of dough and if it rises to the top immediately, oil temperature is right. Drop 2-3 murukku in hot oil and cook both the sides till bubbles cease. Remove in a tissue paper. You can also squeeze the murukku directly in oil, cook them and break into pieces just like butter murukku. Either ways would do. In Lakshmi stall, I saw it as pieces/Thool murukku and not as whole ones. So I made a batch in that way too. 
• Store in an airtight box after cools down. Enjoy for weeks ! This murukku takes time to lend all its flavor. So try to consume the murukku after few hours of making.
  
  Enjoy !

• I am not sure about using ghee instead of butter. The color of murukku may vary.
• You can use red chilli powder instead of red chillies. But grinding garlic would become difficult. In that case, grind garlic as much as possible and strain it adding some water. Add the garlic water to make the dough.