Foxtail Millet Murukku | Thinai Murukku

Murukku is a must for Diwali. Why don’t you try a healthier version of it for this Diwali ?! Let this Millet murukku add extra nutrients to your Diwali snacks. Kids will eat with no complaints as there is no compromise in the taste!

This is my grandma’s recipe. I just tweaked a bit to include millet in it and it turned out perfect! When you are free, you shall prepare Foxtail Millet flour a week before the festival. Make murukku whenever you need and the crunchy serving will be ready just like that!

Clad in colorful attires & sighting the sparkling crackers, let your family munch on this healthy snack on this Diwali! Hurray…. Festive mood is on 🙂 Wish you all a very happy, healthy, colorful and safe Diwali 🙂

Preparation

How to make Foxtail Millet flour at home ?

1.   Wash and soak the millet for 1 hour. Drain the water completely. Take a colander and place a cotton cloth on top of it.   2.   Toss the millet over the cloth. Fold the corners of the cloth using one hand and squeeze out the excess water using the other hand. Spread the millets in a wide plate(If you have another dry cotton cloth, u shall put it on the plate and spread the millets over the cloth to dry quickly) and let it dry under the fan. Do not sun-dry.    3.   It should not be thoroughly dried. I dried it for 1 hour. When it still has some moisture in it, you can grind it in batches in mixie. Once done, spread it in a wide plate and dry it under fan for 2 to 3 hours so that it loses all moisture.   4.   Once dried, sieve it in batches. Discard the left-overs in the sieve. Store the flour in air-tight container. Consume within a month or 2. For more shelf life, put it in the freezer. Anyways, do not exceed 3-4 months from preparation date.

How to make Foxtail Millet Murukku ?

1.   Dry roast Bengal gram until slightly browned. Cool it and grind it in mixie to a fine powder.   2.   Dry roast Urad dal until slightly browned. Cool it and grind it in mixie to a fine powder.   3.   Dry roast boiled rice until it is puffed & slightly browned. Cool it and grind it in mixie to a fine powder.   4.   Dry roast millet flour for a minute until nice aroma is released. Cool it and mix all the 5 powders including raw rice powder. Sieve the mix. The left-overs in the sieve can again be ground in the mixie and sieved.   5.   Add sesame seeds, a generous pinch of Asafoetida and required salt.   6.   Add melted butter and mix thoroughly before adding water.Then, add water and knead the dough.   7.   The dough should neither be sticky/watery nor be hard. Moisture your hand with water and pull out some dough and fill the idiyappam press. Press it with slight turns and twists to make murukku shape.   8.   Press on the back of flat and wide-mouthed ladles. Once oil is hot, carefully drop from the ladle to oil. The number of murukkus per batch depends on the width of your pan. Once dropped, you could see more bubbles arising with noise.  9.   When the bubbles are halved, turn murukku to the other side. I use steel stick to turn and take but you shall use perforated ladle too. When the bubbles count is less and so the noise, its time to take out. Collect them in tissue papers.        Once cooled, store them in air-tight containers. Crunchy & Healthy Millet murukkus are ready!

Tips/Tricks

• For 1-2 years babies, if you wish for softer murukku, substitute fried chana dal(Pottu kadalai) in place of chana dal(kadalai paruppu) and increase 1/2 tbsp butter. Omam/Ajwain/Thymol can be substituted for Ellu/Til/Sesame seeds
• To check if the oil is ready to fry, drop a piece(very small) of dough into the oil and if it bounces back from bottom at once with no delay, the oil is ready.
• Cook in medium flame and do not burn murukkus. Don’t wait for the thick brown color. Just take out when bubbles and noise slow down.
• All the flours can be made and sieved ready before a week.
• Homemade raw rice floor is same as making foxtail millet flour which I have explained in this post.