Thenkuzal(Deep fried crisp rice flour noodles)

Thenkuzal(pronounced Thenkoyãl) is a very delicious crispy and crunchy fried snack which is normally made on festive occasions like Krishna Janamashtami,Diwali or for a special occasion!This is a South Indian recipe and requires patience as well as time especially set out for making the snack.

The first step here would be to tell you how to make Urad Dal powder to mix in the dough.You can get rice flour in the Supermarkets but there are only chosen places which stock readymade Dal or Lentil flour.The lentils used here is Urad Dal(the white one) and we need to make a powder of the same.

MAKING THE URAD DAL POWDER

Measure the amount of Dal you are taking for the recipe.Remember we need to measure the ingredients in the exact quantity or else the snacks become very hard or remain chewy instead of becoming crispy.

In a non-stick pan dry roast the required quantity of Dal till it attains a rosy pinkish hue and a lovely aroma emanates.Take off heat and empty onto a steel or ceramic plate and cool the Dal to room temperature.Grind to a fine powder in a dry grinder of coffee grinder and sieve out into a bowl.Store this powder in an airtight container or use immediately.

NOTE – If you have a snack press(Look for brand Anjali Snack Press in stores or online shopping sites),you will have a set of small plates which come with the press each with different kinds of perforations.For Thenkuzal you need the one with the biggest perfectly round holes.

Preparation Time – 1 hour

Makes – 5-6 rounds

INGREDIENTS

4 cups rice flour

1/2 cup Urad Dal flour

2 tsp Cumin Seeds(Jeera)

1/4 tsp Asafoetida(Heeng)

1 – 1 1/2 tbsp butter(preferably white homemade butter)

2 tsp Salt(or to taste)

Oil for frying

METHOD

Sieve the flours in a bowl and add Cumin seeds,Asafoetida and salt.Blend in butter with fingertips till nicely mixed with the flour.Start adding water say a tbsp at a time and knead into a slightly moist dough.Remember that there should not be too much water in the dough at the same time it should not be very tight or dry.

Divide into 5-6 big balls.

Heat sufficient Oil to fry in a pan.Take a snack press fitted with the Thenkuzal plate and stuff a ball of dough made earlier into it with moist hands.When the Oil is hot enough,lower the heat to medium.Pipe out the Thenkuzal into the hot Oil and fry for approximately 10 minutes flipping the round of Thenkuzal over 2-3 times for perfectly fried round!Drain on absorbent paper.

Prepare more rounds from the remaining dough.

Let the Thenkuzal come to room temperature and store them in airtight containers for them to remain crisp.Enjoy with Tea or Coffee!