DIWALI - MUTHUSARAM & THENGOZHAL

MUTHUSARAM

'Muthusaram' is yet another member of the murukku family - a cousin of 'Thengozhal' and is made during functions like marriages, Janmashtami and Diwali.

The easiest way to get the powder is to mix 4 glasses of raw rice and 3/4 glass of yellow moong dal (dry roasted to a very light brown) and 1/4 glass of chana dal (dry roasted to a light brown). Get the mixture powdered finely in a flour mill, taking care to give instruction that it should not have any trace of wheat flour. Sieve through a fine sieve . If you get 1 kg of powder ground, you can store it for a couple of months and prepare 'muthusaram' whenever you feel like.

Ingredients -

Muthusaram powder – 2 1/2 glasses

Jeera – 2 tsps

White sesame seeds – 1 tsp

Hing – ¼ tsp

Butter – 5 tsp( about20 gms)

Water – 1 ¼ cup

Oil for frying

Method -

Mix well all ingredients except water. Add water little by little and blend well into a soft dough. (You should be able to squeeze it and make muthusaram with the 'naazhi' (chakli-maker) - without exertion. If it is too tight, loosen the dough with 1-2 tbsp of water.

Heat oil in a kadhai and make chaklis and fry both sides till golden.

Drain out on a tissue paper.

Cool and store in airtight jars. It will taste good for 3-4 weeks - but it won't last that long - it will be consumed in days!

Tips

If you live in a place where you get good rice flour, you can make the dal powder at home in your mixer - dry roast moong dal and chana dal separately till light brown. Mix them and powder in your mixer. Sieve to get fine powder and store it.

Use rice flour and dal flour in the ratio 2 1/2 : 1/4.

Whenever I'd visit my children in the US, I'd carry 1 kg of the 'muthusaram powder'. Later I started taking just the 'dal powder' as good rice flour is available at the Indian store there.

THENGOZHAL

For this recipe, check out the post on 'Janmashtami'.
If you are in the US / in Indian metros, you will get rice flour as well as urad dal powder, so making 'Thengozhal' is really easy - if you have the desire, that is! 

© Copyright 2011. Brinda Balasubramonian.