Achu Murukku/ Rose Cookies

EVENT: RECIPE SWAP CHALLENGE

THEME:RECIPE SWAP 3

Today’s recipe is for the Recipe Swap Challenge Group. What is this group all about? Initiated by Jolly Makkar and Vidya Narayan, every alternate month the participants are paired up. We choose a recipe to cook from our partner’s blog. The recipe can be cooked as it is or make slight changes. This a great group as it allows me to prepare recipes that I’ve bookmarked or saved from fellow bloggers.

When I submitted my name for this challenge, I thought I would have enough time after I come back from my trip to India to prepare my recipe. Sure I did have a few days as I’d already decided what I wanted to make from my partner Sujitha’s blog Sujitha’s Easy Cooking. Sujitha’s blog is like a treasure trove of recipes, she’s got such a huge variety right from South Indian cuisine to some lovely bakes. Sujitha, also love the new look on your blog.

However, reality was something else. Just after a couple of days of meeting blogger friends Vidya, Shobha and Aruna(what a wonder time we had), I caught a bad viral flu! Was in bed for 2 days and hubby was getting worried how I’ll cope on the flight as I always get blocked sinuses when I come down with a cold. Luckily before the flight, I was much better but not fully over the viral infection. Its always good to travel with my personal doctor I state when hubby jokes that its always good to travel with his personal chef.

Got home, and this time the kitchen was up and running immediately. My good, friendly and helpful neighbour had made sure basic ingredients like milk, dahi,tomato, onion and potatoes were in my kitchen. Two days after our arrival, the whole infection surfaced again. Lost a few days in recovering, not fully there but feeling much better.

To divert my mind from the heavy head, runny nose and watering eyes, I decided to tackle the Recipe Swap task this morning. You may say not a wise decision, but for me it was. So got my recipe ready today and was so happy with the overall outcome.

First of all let me inform you all, making these so crispy delicious South Indian goodies is not easy at all, requires a lot of patience and perseverance. Perseverance because getting the right batter is a skill.

Since its Navratri, I didn’t want to use egg as Sujitha has done in her recipe for Achu Murukku. What I liked about her recipe were all the tips that she has given. This made it easier to make the achu murukku or rose cookies as they are called. I tasted these the first time when I was working as a teacher at Coast Academy. Our Principal back then was from Kerala and for our staff party she had got her Keralite friend to make them for us. I was utterly taken aback as to how someone can make something so pretty and crunchy at the same time. Then I went to Bangalore to stay with my daughter and the Hot Chip Shop near our apartment was selling them. Every time I’d pass the Hot Chip Shop, I’d want to buy the rose cookies. Back then didn’t know that they were called achu murukku. Two years ago my daughter moved to a new area in Bangalore and I thought ‘Thank God there is no Hot Chip Shop nearly or I’d go crazy with the rose cookies and the banana chips. And within a few months one opened just a couple of steps from our complex! My daughter could only say ‘Oh No!’

During a trip to Chennai to visit her friend, my daughter bought me a present.. the rose cookie mold or achu as its called. It had been sitting in the cupboard for months. Finding the Achu Murukku recipe on Sujitha’s blog is not easy. Whenever I visit any blogger’s blog, I head towards the baking recipes and that’s where I came across the recipe. Decided I had to try the recipe otherwise my daughter would stop buying me presents if I didn’t use the achu 😉

So here’s the recipe and please make sure you read the tips at the end of the recipe to make good crunchy rose cookies. Its common to find rose cookies in the South Indian Christian homes during Christmas.

What I want to know from those who make it regularly, what do you do with the little batter that gets left over and its not enough to dip the achu in?

Also what I would like my blogger friends who have made these exotic cookies, please point out my mistakes so that I can perfect the art as some came out perfect and some are a bit chewy.

Do you want to know what Sujitha made from my blog? Click here to find out.

ACHU MURUKKU/ROSE COOKIES – EGGLESS VERSION

Makes about 25-28

1cup rice flour

¼ cup plain flour (all purpose flour)

½ cup powdered sugar

1¼ cup coconut milk (thick)

½ tsp black sesame seeds

½ tsp cardamom powder

a pinch of salt

oil for deep frying

1. Mix the flours, powdered sugar, salt and coconut milk in a deep small bowl. I mixed it with my electric beater to get a lump free batter.
2. Add the sesame seeds and cardamom powder.
3. Mix well.
4. The batter should not be too thick or too thin. It should coat the back of a spoon or your finger.
5. Heat oil in a wok or karai for deep frying love medium to low heat.
6. Put the achu or mold also in the oil to allow it to get hot with the oil.
7. Drop a small amount of batter in the oil. If it sizzles and comes up immediately the oil is ready.
8. Take the mold out of the oil, shake off the extra oil on it and dip it in the batter ½ way only.
9. Immediately dip it into the hot oil.
10. Hold the achu with batter for a few seconds steadily in the oil.
11. Gently shake the achu in the oil and the cookie should come off the mold.
12. Leave the achu in the oil on one side as it has to be hot.
13. Fry the cookie till its light brown in colour and remove from the oil.
14. Place the fried cookie in a colander so that the extra oil can drain out.
15. Shake the oil off the mold and dip it again in the batter and repeat steps 10 to 14 till all the batter is over.

Tips:

• Wash and dry a new achu. Grease it with oil and leave it for 2-3 days.
• If you try to raise the achu with batter too quickly from the oil, the cookie will break up.
• If the shape of the cookie doesn’t happen then the batter is too thin, Thin batter also means it will not coat the mold.
• If the batter is too thick then the achu will be a bit chewy. A few of mine came out like that.
• If the achu is too oily, it will not get coated with the batter.
• You will need to adjust the heat between medium to low frequently.
• The first few cookies broke as I tried to lift the mold too quickly from the oil. Be patient and let it fry for a while.
• If the cookie refuses to come off on its own after a while, use a fork to remove it from the mold.
• What happens if you dip the whole mold in the batter? The batter covers the top part and then it becomes difficult for it to come off from the mold.
• I found that the hot mold sort of made the batter a bit thick so I mixed it with a spoon after each dip.
• I made them one at a time, but once you master the art I’m sure you can fry 2-3 together depending on the size of the kadai.

A little request:

If you do try this recipe then please either

• add a comment below,
• send a picture to my email mayuri.ajay.patel62@gmail.com
•  tag me as #mayuri_jikoni on Instagram
• or tag me on Twitter as #Mayuri1962

You may want to check out the following recipes:

Sending this recipe to the following event: