Vegan Ragi Murukku | Finger Millet Chakli

Nothing can beat homemade savories and snacks. Today I am going to share Ragi Murukku – a crunchy and delicious vegan murukku or chakli made with finger millet flour. A perfect snack for Diwali & Janmashtami festival!

Diwali / Deepavali – the festival of lights is right around the corner, and yesterday, I shared a kheer recipe that pairs well in the festive thali. Like Janmashtami, we make a lot of savory snacks and sweets for Diwali. I love sharing these sweets and snacks with friends and family, and also I get my fair share of goodies from our friends too.

I always make sure I make atleast one sweet and one savory dish for Diwali. For the past few years, I started making millet-based snacks and sweets. Last year, I tried bajra/pearl millet thattai and bajra laddu. I even made the bajra flour at home. :-) The previous year, I tried quinoa murukku (I know, quinoa doesn’t fall under millet category).

I am following the same trend this year as well. As you read from the title, I am going to share ragi murukku or chakli today. (It’s not ragi laddu tomorrow) 

Vegan Ragi Murukku:

Murukku means twisted in the Tamil language. If you notice, the shape of the murukku is twisted and turned and hence the name. Traditional murukku recipes like thenkuzhal calls for rice flour and urad dal flour. But there are many murukku varieties, and here is one such type with ragi flour. Traditional recipes call for butter but I skipped butter completely and went with coconut oil. Hence this a vegan-friendly murukku.

Why not Gluten-Free? How to Make it Gluten-Free?

I cannot imagine my kitchen without ragi porridge powder (I am yet to post the recipe) Ragi or finger millet is one of the ancient grains loaded with fibers, calcium, and nutrients. I know, the internet is flooded with ragi information. So I am not going to add it here again.

All the flours I am using are gluten-free but if you see the ingredients, I am using hing which makes this murukku, not a gluten-free snack. Asafoetida on its own doesn’t have any gluten. It’s naturally gluten-free.  It’s nothing but a sticky resin and in order to handle it easily, it is mixed with wheat flour. If you are highly allergic to gluten, skip this ingredient or use reliable gluten-free asafoetida. 

Now without any further ado, let’s discuss the ingredients for this murukku and also how to make it. For this murukku, I went with my own measure and it worked out great. :-)

Ingredients Required for Making Ragi Murukku:

• Ragi Flour: Of course, it’s the main ingredient. I used store-bought flour this time, and for this recipe, you need ½ cup of ragi flour. I did not sieve or roast the ragi flour. But you can roast them slightly for one to two minutes over medium heat.
• Roasted Split Chickpeas Flour: It’s the roasted gram dal flour or daliya flour. In Tamil, we call this as pottukadalai maavu. You can find roasted gram on all Indian groceries and also on amazon online. For the flour, you need to grind the roasted gram. I took about ¼ cup of roasted gram dal and grind into a fine powder. We only need ¼ cup of gram flour for this recipe.
• Idiyappam Flour: You can find this all Indian groceries, but you can use regular rice flour also. I have tried with both the flour. Also, you can skip rice flour and add ragi flour itself. The murukku will have an excellent dark brown color. The taste will differ slightly, though. 
• Cumin Seeds: It adds a nice flavor. Along with cumin seeds, you can also add white sesame seeds.
• Asafoetida: I know, 1.5 tsp of asafoetida is little too much for the murukku. But that’s the ingredient that’s going to add the flavor to this murukku. I did not include red chili powder or other spices. So went with little extra asafoetida. As mentioned above, skip hing if you are allergic to gluten. You can add red chili powder for a spicer flavor. (No, I am not saying red chili powder as the substitute for hing)
• Coconut Oil – Traditionally, we use butter for murukku, but I am using coconut oil. It adds a nice flavor. But you can also use other oils like corn or vegetable as well.
• Water: The amount of water required depends upon the quality of the flour. Add water little by little while preparing the dough.
• Last but not least, we need salt and oil for frying.

How to Make Finger Millet Murukku?

• In a large mixing bowl, add the ragi flour, roasted gram flour, rice flour, cumin seeds, asafoetida, 1 tbsp coconut oil, and salt.

• Mix them all. Make sure the coconut oil is well combined.

• Now add water little by little and make a soft and smooth dough. I used about ½ cup + 1 tbsp of water. Make sure the dough is not too hard. It becomes hard to press, and also, the murukku breaks if it is too hard. If it’s too soft with more moisture, the murukku will absorb oil. Water entirely depends upon the quality of the flour used. So add little by little as required.

• I used the star-shaped mold for this murukku. You can use your preferred mold. Grease the murukku press with oil.
• Then add the dough in the murukku press. I was able to add the entire dough into the press. But you can add half of the dough, and after pressing, you can add the remaining.

• If you are comfortable, you can press it directly on hot oil if not press them on the back of a ladle like below. As you can see from other murukku pictures, I pressed the murukku in different sizes. :-)

• Slowly and carefully drop them into oil and fry the murukku. Flip the murukku over after 40-45 seconds and fry until the bubble ceases. Make sure you fry over a low medium flame so that the murukku gets cooked thoroughly.

• Place the fried murukku on parchment paper or tissue paper and drain the excess oil. 
• Some dough will be sticking to the murukku press. You can flatten it like thattai or shape it like seedai and fry them to avoid the wastage.
• Store in an airtight container and enjoy.

Recipe Notes:

• You can slightly roast the rice flour and ragi flour for a couple of minutes. 
• Adjust the salt according to your preference. You can add ½ tsp of red chili powder for a bit spicer version.
• Skip hing to make it a gluten-free murukku or add gluten-free hing.
• Make sure the dough is not too hard and not too soft.
• Also, fry the murukku over a low medium flame (on a number scale from 1 to 10, around 4 ).
• You can ½ tbsp of butter for that melt in mouth murukku. Butter also adds flavor. As we prefer crispy and crunchy ones, I did not add the extra butter. Also, I want to keep this murukku vegan.
• Instead of idiyappam flour, you can use regular rice flour also. 

PS: Follow me on Instagram or join my Facebook Group for more gardening and recipe updates. If you try this ragi murukku recipe, please don’t forget to comment and rate this recipe.

I am sending this post to Blogging Marathon 105 under the theme “Diwali Savories and Sweets”. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#105

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5 from 2 votes

Vegan Ragi Murukku | Finger Millet Chakli

Ragi Murukku - a crunchy and delicious vegan murukku or chakli made with finger millet flour. A perfect snack for any festival!

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time25 minutes mins

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: South Indian

Servings: 8

Calories: 142kcal

Author: Srividhya G

Ingredients

• ▢ ½ cup finger millet flour
• ▢ ¼ cup roasted split chickpeas flour pottukadalai maavu
• ▢ ¼ cup idiyappam flour
• ▢ ½ tbsp cumin seeds
• ▢ 1.5 tsp asafoetida
• ▢ 2 tbsp coconut oil divided, 1 tbsp for murukku, and 1 tbsp for greasing the press.
• ▢ ½ tsp salt
• ▢ ½ cup water plus 1 tbsp
• ▢ 2 cups oil for frying

Instructions

Prep-Work:

• Take about ¼ cup of roasted gram dal and grind into a fine powder. We only need ¼ cup of gram flour for this recipe.

How to Make Finger Millet Chakli:

• In a large mixing bowl, add the ragi flour, roasted gram flour, rice flour, cumin seeds, asafoetida, 1 tbsp coconut oil, and salt.
• Mix them all. Make sure the coconut oil is well combined.
• Now add water little by little and make a soft and smooth dough. I used about ½ cup + 1 tbsp of water. Make sure the dough is not too hard. It becomes hard to press, and also, the murukku breaks if it is too hard. If it's too soft with more moisture, the murukku will absorb oil. Water entirely depends upon the quality of the flour used. So add little by little as required.
• I used the star-shaped mold for this murukku. You can use your preferred mold. Grease the murukku press with oil.
• Then add the dough in the murukku press. I was able to add the entire dough into the press. But you can add half of the dough, and after pressing, you can add the remaining.
• If you are comfortable, you can press it directly on hot oil if not press them on the back of a ladle like below.
• Slowly and carefully drop them into oil and fry the murukku. Flip the murukku over after 40-45 seconds and fry until the bubble ceases. Make sure you fry over a low medium flame so that the murukku gets cooked thoroughly.
• Place the fried murukku on parchment paper or tissue paper and drain the excess oil.
• Some dough will be sticking to the murukku press. You can flatten it like thattai or shape it like seedai and fry them to avoid the wastage.
• Store in an airtight container and enjoy.

Notes

• You can slightly roast the rice flour and ragi flour for a couple of minutes.
• Adjust the salt according to your preference. You can add ½ tsp of red chili powder for a bit spicer version.
• Skip hing to make it a gluten-free murukku or add gluten-free hing.
• Make sure the dough is not too hard and not too soft.
• Also, fry the murukku over a low medium flame (on a number scale from 1 to 10, around 4 ).
• You can ½ tbsp of butter for that melt in mouth murukku. Butter also adds flavor.
• As we prefer crispy and crunchy ones, I did not add the extra butter. Also, I want to keep this murukku vegan.
• Instead of idiyappam flour, you can use regular rice flour also.

Nutrition

Calories: 142kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 150mg | Potassium: 55mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Calcium: 7mg | Iron: 1mg

I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.

Tried this recipe?Mention @vidhyasvegetariankitchen or tag #vidhyasvegkitchen

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Updates Notes: This recipe was originally posted in 2015 but now updated with new photos and fresh content.