Chettinadu Thenkuzhal Murukku Recipe from Soundaram Aachi of Soundaram Snacks, Karaikudi – Kannamma Cooks (2024)

Chettinadu Thenkuzhal Murukku Recipe from Soundaram Aachi of Soundaram snacks Karaikudi, Tamilnadu. With step by step pictures.

You go to Karaikudi and ask for Soundaram Snacks and everyone will be able to guide you. Its so famous. The big house that hosts Soundaram snacks, bustling with all kinds of Chettinad snacks being prepared by Soundaram Aachisbusy team is a sight to watch. The first time I saw her, I will never forget. We had gone to get some snacks. It was around lunch time. She saw my cranky little son and she immediately knew that he was hungry. She called one of her team members and asked them to get a pachai thenkuzhal. “A very soft kind of murukku delicacyin chettinad”. The lady returned with a hot murukku and gave it to Soundaram Aachi. She gave it to my son and told “saaptu paaru raja”. Not only that. She even wiped his oily mouth with her Saree (mundhanai) after he had finished eating. I was immediately in tears. And all this was to us, strangers. How many times do you see people like this in your life? She just hugged me tight and called me in. We struck a conversation right away. What was a 10 minute break for getting snacks turned out to be a 2 hour unforgettable meeting. I told her about Kannamma Cooks and she was so happy to share this famous thenkuzhal recipe.

This is Soundaram amma’s story. She was a typical home maker until her quiet world toppled over when her husband met with an accident and was disabled for a while. After some time, she also lost her only son in a road accident. This business became her livelihood and she worked so hard and buried all her worries making snacks day and night. The business has become so big and Soundaram is a household name in Karaikudi now. Even today, each and every product gets packed only after Soundaram Aachi does the taste testing. A very passionate, hard working, down to earth person who will make you feel that the world is a better place because of people like her. She has a grandson from her daughter and she could not stop talking about him the whole time. She is the cutest person you will ever meet in your life. So when you are in Karaikudi, you should not miss this gem of a place thats a heaven for foodies. Soundaram Snacks is located at Number 28, MGR Street, Soodamani Puram, Karaikudi – 3. Phone Number+(91)-4565-650733.

The sight of mountains of murukku made from scratch cannot be described in words. Everything at Soundaram is made by hand.

Here is how to do Thenkuzhal murukku chettinad style. There are two methods to do this recipe. One is using the traditional method where rice is soaked, dried and ground to a fine powder.
The second one is to use the store bought idiyappam flour. This is an easier method and produces equally good results.
If you are using the traditional method, follow the instructions below.
Soundaram Aachi suggests using the following variety of raw rice if you are in Tamilnadu. C.R.Pachai or IR20. If you are else where, use the raw rice variety you can get in the grocery stores.
Soak the raw rice in water for one hour. After soaking for an hour, drain the water completely and dry the rice on a cloth for 3-4 hours. The rice needs to dry in shade only. Not under the sun. Once the rice is dried and has very little moisture left, grind to a fine powder. Usually the rice is ground to a fine powder by giving it in a rice mill. If grinding at home, grind in very small quantities in a mixie until its really smooth. Once the powder is ready, sieve and set aside. If you are going to use ready made idiyappam flour, this step is not necessary.

Dry roast the urad dal in very low flame until the dal starts to smell aromatic. Do not let the dal brown. Remove off heat and allow it to cool. Once the dal is cool, grind in a mixie to a very smooth powder. Once the powder is ready, sieve and set aside.

Mix in the rice powder, dal powder and salt. My little iron man did themixing for me. Add the ghee and water and mix into a pliable soft dough. Make little logs to fill the murukku press.

Heat oil in a pan in medium flame until hot and press the murukkus from the murukku press directly in oil. Soundaram Aachi says, that’s the secret to getting crispy light murukkus.

Remove once the bubbles in oil settle down and store in an air tight container for up-to 2 weeks. My murukku was in all shapes and sizes but tasted great.

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