Thenkuzal, Crispy home-made snack made of Rice & black lentil flour. It’s such a quick and easy deep-fried snack, made during festivals like Krishna Jayanthi & Diwali.

Thenkuzal is the only savory snack that I make every Deepavali/Diwali, I concentrate more on sweets that can be shared with friends and family. Planning more savory dishes this time, keep checking for updates.

Recipe: From Amma

Makes about 15-18 thenkuzal

Ingredients you’ll need:

2 cups Rice flour
1/2 cup Skinless whole black gram/Urad dhal flour
1/2 cup Butter- Unsalted
1/4 tsp Hing/asafoetida/perungayam
1 tsp Cumin seeds/jeera
1/2-3/4 tsp Salt (adjust as per taste)
1 tsp Sesame seeds-Optional
Oil for deep-frying

Preparation:

Rice flour: I used store-bought rice flour for this recipe, If you are specific and have a lot of time in hand: make fresh home-made rice flour.

For home-made rice flour: Clean and wash rice till the water runs clean. Soak raw rice for 2 hours. Drain the rice and spread it in a single layer on a clean cloth for an hour and let it dry well in the sun or shade. Grind it to a fine powder. Sieve it.

Black gram/Urad dhal Flour: Roast urad dal till you get a nice aroma or till the color changes to light golden brown. Powder it fine in a mixer.

You can make extra batches of this mixture and store in an air tight container and use when needed. This is the basic thenkuzal murukku recipe.

Mix the rice flour and black gram/urad dhal with the salt, asafoetida/hing, and cumin seeds.

Cut the butter into small pieces and add to flour mixture and mix gently with fingertips

Adding chilli powder is optional. Amma always adds a 1/2 tsp so did I.

Mix it well till everything is well combined. It will begin to hold it’s shape when you press it in your palm, If it doesn’t, add a little more butter. Just keep in mind, too much additional butter will result in thenkuzal not holding it’s shape when you fry it in oil.

Now, add water little by little to make a soft dough, not too watery not too thick. If it’s too watery or thick, adjust by adding a bit more rice flour and urad dhal flour or a few sprinkles of water.

Fit a thenkuzal mould to the murukku press. Take a small part of dough and fill the press.

Once cool, store in airtight containers.

Happy Cooking