A savory rice and lentil snack. Crispy and light, it’s flavored with a hint of cumin and sesame. I like mine with cup of hot chocolate or chai.

Ingredients
4 cups rice flour
1 cup roasted black lentil (urad dhal) flour*
1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, slightly bruised (but not crushed too much)
3 tsp sesame seeds
3 3/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup shortening (my mom says this produces a better crunch than butter or ghee. I used butter-flavored Crisco)
water or coconut milk, as needed (my mom uses water; I did too. Will try it with coconut milk another time)
lots of oil to deep fry 😁
*(If flour is unavailable, lightly dry roast whole/split black lentil (urad dhal), dry grind, sift, and then measure out)

Directions
Using a pastry blender or your hand, mix everything except the liquid. Make sure the shortening is evenly distributed. Next add enough liquid to make a soft dough. Cover with a damp cloth while you deep fry the murukku, using just the amount you need to fill the murukku acchi.

Fill up a murukku achhi (maker) using a medium-sized mold (in the link it’s the one with seven holes; but it’s about size of the holes and not the number, though). Spin the dough into hot oil over medium heat–like this! If this freaks you out, spin the dough over a spatula and then gently immerse the spatula into the oil–like this. Remove while creamy in color. Letting it fry till get golden brown kills the flavor of the urad dhal.

Drain on paper towels. Cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Note: Play around with the oil temperature and consistency of the dough to address the right crunch factor and with any issues of the murukkus being too greasy.