Sago Murukku for ICC

I would probably call them savory Tapioca fritters if I had to translate the name in English. There isn't any Indian who doesn't know about Murukku. It could be called by different names and made with different flours. This month's challenge was 'Sago Murukku' which I am not used to. I have grown up eating my mother's traditional murukku made using urad dal flour and rice flour. That is the same way I make them all the time too. Well, this was different but definitely tasty.

I did get into trouble with sago while making this. 3 hours of soaking in buttermilk didn't make them soft at all. Sago I had brought from the Indian store probably was not of great quality.  I microwaved it for 2 minutes. Let it sit for 10 minutes and they were soft. I am glad I did that instead of throwing it away. I followed the recipe given with a very few changes. Here is my version..

Ingredients:
All these measurements are from standard measuring cups ans spoons used in U.S

• Rice flour - 2 cups
• Hurigadale / Dalia / Roasted gram dal powdered - 1/2 cup
• Besan / Chickpea flour - 1/2 cup
• Salt - 2 tsp or to taste
• Red chilli powder - 1 tsp or to taste
• Tapioca / Sago - 1/2 cup
• Buttermilk - 3/4 cup (Mix enough water to 1/4 cup of yogurt so that all the sago is immersed)
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp (this is my addition)
• White Sesame seeds - 1 tsp (this is my addition)
• Hot oil for the dough - 1/2 cup
• Oil for frying

Method:
Soak Sago in buttermilk for 3 hours. If, at the end of 3 hours the sago is not soft, do what I did and microwave for a minute or two and wait for some more time. If the sago is hard, it will burst when you fry the murukku. Mix all the flours, salt, chilli powder, cumin and sesame seeds. Add 1/2 cup of hot oil and mix. Add the soaked sago and mix well. Use the buttermilk that you soaked sago in. If you need more liquid, add some water one TBSP at a time. Add slowly and make a soft dough. I couldn't make murukku without adding cumin and sesame seeds. 'Old habits die hard' I guess. If you check the ICC link above, Srivalli has shown squeezing the dough directly into oil. She explains that while squeezing, it might break and it is very normal. I just wanted to test the dough and started squeezing the dough on wax paper in traditional murukku press with a single star disc. Surprisingly, they came out just fine and kept their shape. So, I made them as you see them in the picture. Fry few at a time till golden and crisp. These take a long time to cook compared to traditional urad dal murukkus. Don't rush them.
Drain on paper towel and when cool, store in an air tight container.

Happy Cooking!! Pin It