Ragi Chakli Recipe

Ragi Murukku! A finger millet snack, deep-fried or air-fried!

A spiked spiral that your Indian friend will offer is Chakli. It is a  savoury snack from India. These delicious deep-fried snacks used to be made at home. Now, we may have easy access to the packaged stuff, but where’s the fun in that? Make them at home and rediscover the flavour! 

Contents

• Finger Millet Chakli recipe and me
• Why make MSK recipe?
• How to make Ragi Muruku
• For Your Questions
• Some recipes Delicious Diwali Recipes 
• Recipe Card
• Pin for Later

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Finger Millet Chakli recipe and me

Chakali and laddoo are 2 perquisites of any Diwali festivities in my books.  I have memories of my sister and mother making the chakli while I was employed to fry them. It was my brother’s job to keep us supplied with tea.

When Akanksha was little she wanted to make these. So every year we made them.

So chakli or murukku has always had fond memories for me. This time Akanksha came home after a year in Bangalore so we made them again. Of course, I have to change my pictures and update my post to make it more SEO friendly.

Why make MSK recipe?

My chakli is something you should try as they are

• Millets included
• Homemade
• Can be made Gluten-free
• Can be baked/Air fried
• Can be made vegan

How to make Ragi Muruku

Ingredients

• Finger millet flour
• Black gram flour
• Rice flour
• Butter
• Sesame seeds
• Red chilli powder
• Turmeric powder
• Asafoetida (do not add if making gluten-free)
• Carom seeds
• Salt to taste
• Water to knead
• Oil to deep fry

Substitutes

• The butter replace with oil and the quantities remain the same.
• In case you want to avoid the finger millet, use just gram flour also called besan.
• To make the chakli absolutely gluten-free do not add the asafoetida.

Method

•  Dry roast separately the dry flours till warm and let them cool. 
• Add the toasted and cooled sesame seeds, chilli powder, turmeric, asafoetida and salt to the flour.
• Rub in the butter in the flour then mix with water to form a soft dough. Rest the dough fro about 10 minutes.
• Fedd the diugh in a greased press and press the mixture out into spirals. Do not forget to seal the edges.
• Deep fry in hot oil till golden brown and darker in shade.
• Drain and let them cool before transferring to an airtight container.

 How to serve

Chakli while it tastes best when hot with a dollop of homemade butter. But you can serve them with tea, laddoo on the side when cold too.

Storage

Cool the chakli and store it in an airtight container.

For Your Questions

Protips

• In place of Finger millets flour, you can use chickpea flour or besan. 
• If you do not have the mould, make kadboli. There is a video for you to watch in the end.
• You can also make your chakli using an icing gun or piping bag with a star nozzle.
• Grease your press mould before adding the dough to it. 
• It helps if before adding the dough to the press you dip your hand in the water and knead it a few times.
• Keep the unused dough covered.
• Do not add too many chakli to the oil.
• When frying keep the heat constantly on medium heat. Too high will mean the outer side will be burnt and the inside will not cook.

Frequently asked questions:

• Why does my chakli/ murukku break when making?

  If your chakli breaks when you are squeezing from the mould it means the dough needs more water. Remove the dough from the chakli press, sprinkle some water, go easy a tablespoon at a time is all that you need to add. Knead the dough.
  

• My Chakali/ murukku dough is not retaining shape when pressed, how do I fix it?

  Add more dry flour, rice flour is better and mix the dough. Adjust the seasonings and knead again.
  

• My chakli/ murukku are not crisp and is hard after frying, why?

  The fat in the dough is less. Add some more butter or oil.

• Why is my fried chakli soft?

  How did you fry the chakli on high heat? Always fry on medium to high flame. When frying on high flame the outside gets cooked but the inside needs to still cook. Since the inside is undercooked it will be soft while eating.
  

• What is the difference between Chakli and Murukku?

  Your typical Chakli is made from rice flour, Bengal gram (brown chickpea) flour and black gram (urad daal) flour. It has several variations, depending on the types and proportion of flours used. Murukku, a similar snack typically made without Bengal gram flour.
  

• Finally, if you do not have the Chakli press/ mould, how do you make the chakli?

  You can 1) roll out the dough into thin logs then make spirals. 2) Sprinkle more water on the dough and knead it. The dough should be like your buttercream icing. Add to the greased piping gun with a star nozzle and make spirals.

Some recipes Delicious Diwali Recipes

Recipe card

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