A long time ago before the arrival of samosas,kachoris,puris,sev and other fried delicacies from the North, became popular in Tamil Nadu,the people of the South indulged their taste buds in fried snacks made from rice and dhals...murukkus ,seedai , thatta murrukku , ribbon murrukku or ottu pakoda and many variations of the same were most popular .Usually home made by women who had time on their hands and very nimble fingers,these were made in a clean environment and great care for hygiene was taken by the person involved in making them...almost a reverence was given to the task of making 'palagaram' ...in other words..festive food...not to mention the happiness that surrounded these people who while cooking would indulge in stories and gossip and that I think was the secret behind their long tireless toil!!! Hearing the elders in my family speak of a time when it was easily available at markets in Idigarai...I feel sad that these handmade tiny circles of yumminess are only made by 1 woman now...I'm also very grateful that I was able to see and taste these murrukkus !
Murrukku in tamil means to twist...the word is also familiar as an errant child would be threatened that he/she would have their ears 'murruki' if they behaved badly
:D OUCH !!!
The murukkus were so special to me,that they had to be shared and be a part of my diwali basket this year !!!
Shanthini, I look at these " The IDIGARAI Murukkus" with a lot of Fond & Nostalgic memories. They were a part of the treats that we used to look forward to, when certain relatives of my Father's used to visit from Idigarai.The red colour was a feast for the eyes.& we were told that the colour came from a type of red chillies they used. They were always strung so in a type of specially processed cactus fibre. thank you so much for this share. By the way this was my father's favourite murukku.:)
ReplyDeleteHappy to hear all the murukku tales...PLT thrives on such stories :))...thank you !
DeleteMy late Grandmom used to make this, sadly none of us got trained..... they were so good, easy to bite, and buttery and spicy all at the same time....
ReplyDeleteThey are still made here by 1 person,the next time you want,let me know :)
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