Ulundu murukku also known as urad dal murukku is a super light and crispy snack prepared with cooked urad dal instead of the regular flour. Murukku is a popular south Indian snack prepared at households with various methods. In this blog post, let's see how to make ulundu murukku with step by step pictures and video.
We always look for evening dry snacks for kids and adults at home. These are perfect to prepare anytime around the year.
This is similar to my Potato murukku recipe on this site, and pairs well with beverages like Masala tea, Filter coffee, etc.
I had a wish to try this murukku for a long time as many of the blogger friends shared it already. My SIL too told it turns out really good. But I tried only for this Diwali. I could not post it that time, so last week made these for snacks and shot it for blog post too.
Ingredients
Here are the simple ingredients needed that are easily available in your pantry!
- Urad dal - Ulundu - Main ingredient for flavour in this murukku.
- Rice flour - Idiyappam flour - I use idiyappam flour as long as I remember (18+ years now) for crispy results since it is processed. Refer my substitutions & variations topic for more ideas.
- Butter - Adds flavor, keeps the murukku whitish.
- Oil - For deep frying and just a little for adding in the dough for crispy restults.
- Sesame seeds - Adds flavor to the murukku. I used white, but you can use black variety too.
- Cumin seeds - Helps with digestion as well as gives flavour to the murukku.
- Asafoetida - Adding lots of asafoetida is my secret to flavorful murukku!
See recipe card for full list and exact quantities.
Instructions
Let's see how to make Ulundu murukku.
1. Take urad dal (ulundu) in a small pressure cooker firstly.
2. Then, pressure cook it with approximately 1 & ½ cups of water.
3. It should be cooked soft, that is, if you mash with your fingers it should be easily mashed.
4. Then cool it down and place it in a mixie.
5. Grind with water if needed until it is smooth.
6. Place it in a bowl, and then add rice flour to it.
7. Add all the other ingredients - butter, sesame, cumin, oil, asafoetida and salt.
8. Mix well firstly and then add water gradually to get a soft and pliable dough.
9. Do not make it tight, let it be soft so that it is easy to squeeze.
10. Then, add the murukku plate to murukku press.
11. After that, fill it with the prepared murukku dough.
12. Keep the dough covered always.
Deep-frying murukku
13. Then grease few ladles with oil and squeeze murukku over it. Hold the press above in a height so that it is easier to shape the murukku. This way, you will have a good control over shaping.
14. Heat oil and once hot, add to the oil gently. You can fry few murukku per batch, depending on the amount of oil.
15. Cook in medium flame until bubbles and shhh... sound reduce.
16. Then cook in low flame until the bubbles and sound reduce completely as you see in the image.
17. Then keep the flame high and drain from oil. If you take out the murukku while flame is low, the oil will be more in the murukku. Also keeping high flame ensures, next batch murukku also cooks well as soon as you drop.
18. Repeat to finish all the dough. Ulundu murukku ready!
Enjoy urad dal murukku with tea/ coffee.
Substitutions & Variations
- Butter - instead of adding butter, just add 1 tablespoon of hot oil in this recipe, instead of 2 teaspoon oil. This gives crispy results.
- Rice flour - Like I always say, I use Baba's Idiyappam flour (Singapore/ Malaysia) for best results. You can use any good quality rice flour or processed flour.
- Cumin - Use ajwain / Omam/ Caraway seeds for a unique flavour. Be careful about the amount you add, as it's flavour can be overpowering.
- Spicy - add chilli powder or pepper powder while making the dough.
Equipment
I used my murukku press that I got from Kumbakonam Kumbeswarar kovil street. You can use any murukku press. I personally prefer thin hole for this murukku for crispy results (to make any murukku for that reason).
So I used this press. But you can use any murukku press of your choice. A good quality/ make & model Screw type murukku press can make squeezing easy!
Storage
Store in an air-tight after everything is completely cooled down. These murukku keep good upto 2 weeks in room temperature. After that the crispiness is slightly reduced. If you want longer shelf life, keep it inside the refrigerator.
Top tip
- Use good quality rice flour. Mine is idiyappam flour, which is processed. So it gets cooked fast, finest flour, gives smooth looks.
- If you are making more quantity than mentioned, I suggest to do in two batches as, keeping the dough for long time can affect the color and texture of the murukku.
- Right way to fry murukku perfectly: When you drop the murukku in oil, the oil should be hot (not fuming) and then furthermore, reduce the flame and cook slowly. While taking out, again raise the heat as it will help with texture and next batch of murukku too.
- Keep the dough covered always.
- Use good amount of water while making the dough, do not make the dough too tight as squeezing will become difficult.
FAQ
Since we are using boiled urad dal in the dough, it is quite common that these ulundu murukku give you greasy feel. Other than that, try to use more rice flour proportion if you want. Also make sure the oil is hot enough while dropping the murukku in oil and taking out.
Which oil is good for murukku?
I prefer using neutral oil like refined sunflower oil. Canola oil, coconut oil have some flavor on it's own. I prefer our coconut oil for flavour but the shelf life is lower. Peanut oil/ groundnut oil turns bit greasy.
Recipe card
Ulundu murukku recipe | Diwali Snacks Recipes
Equipments (Amazon Affiliate links)
Ingredients
- ½ cup Urad dal
- 2 cups Rice flour
- 1 teaspoon Butter
- 1 teaspoon Sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- 2 teaspoon Oil
- ¼ teaspoon Asafoetida
- Oil to deep fry
Instructions
- Take urad dal (ulundu) in a small pressure cooker firstly.
- Then, pressure cook it with approximately 1 & ½ cups of water.
- It should be cooked soft, that is, if you mash with your fingers it should be easily mashed.
- Then cool it down and place it in a mixie.
- Grind with water if needed until it is smooth.
- Place it in a bowl, and then add rice flour to it.
- Add all the other ingredients - butter, sesame, cumin, oil, asafoetida and salt.
- Mix well firstly and then add water gradually to get a soft and pliable dough.
- Do not make it tight, let it be soft so that it is easy to squeeze.
- Then, add the murukku plate to murukku press.
- After that, fill it with the prepared murukku dough.
- Keep the dough covered always.
Deep-frying murukku
- Then grease few ladles with oil and squeeze murukku over it. Hold the press above in a height so that it is easier to shape the murukku. This way, you will have a good control over shaping.
- Heat oil and once hot, add to the oil gently. You can fry few murukku per batch, depending on the amount of oil.
- Cook in medium flame until bubbles and shhh... sound reduce.
- Then cook in low flame until the bubbles and sound reduce completely as you see in the image.
- Then keep the flame high and drain from oil. If you take out the murukku while flame is low, the oil will be more in the murukku. Also keeping high flame ensures, next batch murukku also cooks well as soon as you drop.
- Repeat to finish all the dough. Ulundu murukku ready!
Rama says
Such a tasty murukku. Made this yesterday. Very soft and crispy. I would give 10 out of 10 for this. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Raks Anand says
Thanks a lot for your feedback 🙂
Pavithra says
Hi mam. For making this murukku, is it necessary to soak urad Dal before cooking?
Raks Anand says
Hi Pavithra, No need to soak, just pressure cook directly.