Butter Murukku Recipe

Butter Murukku also known as Benne Murukku, Benne Chakli or Venna Murukku are a popular South Indian snack. Murukku is a deep fried crisp snack made with rice flour and gram flour. These are eaten all-round the year and certainly made during festivals. Butter murukku is a lighter version of the traditional murukku or chakli. These are very light, crunchy and have an addictive flavor of butter.

There are a zillion recipes to make these and they all vary slightly in the proportions & ingredients. This Butter Murukku Recipe is a classic one and is what we make at my Mom’s home. I also guess this is a standard recipe used by many South Indian home cooks.

About Butter Murukku

Butter Murukku is a classic spiral shaped rice flour snack flavored with butter and spices. These are a popular festive-treat from the South Indian Cuisine and are made during Krishna Jayanthi, Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi and Sankranti. Butter murukku are also a common snack available in the South Indian Bakeries and snack shops.

Usually the butter murukku sold in the shops & bakeries are so light that they are in broken pieces about 3 inch each and not in spirals. As we press the dough from the mould, the murukku just breaks off and that’s how the dough is supposed to be. This yields light butter murukku.

The proportion of ingredients to make the dough is the key to make them so light and crispy. So do not alter the recipe. This is not a forgiving recipe and the proportion of rice flour to butter matters the most.

If you add more butter, they will break up to much smaller pieces while the dough is pressed and butter murukku will soak up oil. Also I insist you use the best quality unsalted butter.

Some store bought butters have milk solids added to them and this kind of butter may froth up the oil while frying and even can cause the butter murukku to burst.

If you are a beginner you may find it difficult to shape the murukku/ chakli to spiral as the texture of butter murukku dough is different. So do not aim to shape them well like a murukku. You should be able to make similar to something I have shown in the first picture (3 inch pieces).

More chakli or murukku recipes,
Thattai
Ribbon murukku
Urad dal murukku
Karasev
Chakli recipe
Omapodi or plain sev

You may also like to check these Diwali snacks or this complete collection of 100 diwali sweets recipes.

Photo Guide

How To Make Butter Murukku (Stepwise Photos)

1. Add 2 to 3 tbsp fried gram to a blender jar.

2. Make a fine powder. Measure and set aside 2 tbsps flour. Sieve this if the powder is not fine.

3. To a mixing bowl, add rice flour, fried gram powder, soft butter, besan,salt,hing and cumin. You can also add sesame seeds if you like.

4. Mix everything well to incorporate the butter evenly.

5. Pour water little by little as needed and make the dough.

6. Dough must be non sticky and crack free.

7. Grease the mould. Fix the star attachment. Fill the mould with dough. Keep the rest of the dough covered.

8. Press the dough on a clean damp cloth or butter paper.

Fry Butter Murukku

9. Heat oil in a pan. Check if the oil is hot enough by dropping a small flat piece of dough. If the dough raises it means the oil is hot enough to fry. Deep fry them in hot oil.

10. You can also press the dough in the hot oil directly. chakli will break on their own and fall. Fry until golden on a medium flame, stirring occasionally for even frying. Drain them on a kitchen towel.

Store butter murukku in a airtight jar. They remain fresh for about 2 to 3 weeks.

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Butter Murukku Recipe first published in November 2015. Updated and republished in August 2022.