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My Food Story is a collection of stories and recipes that celebrate India’s traditional plant-based ingredients sourced from local biodiversity. You can see these recipes on our interactive dashboard (https://www.cseindia.org/page/myfoodstory).
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In my childhood days, my mother used oregano leaves in tea as a medicinal preparation to ward off cold and cough. We refused to drink it. Then, she transformed it to into a snack: Murukku (Chakli). After my marriage, I regularly prepared this and gave it to my daughter. Now, I prepare it for my grandson.
Oregano Leaves (Karpooravalli Ilai) Murukku
Ingredients
Moong dal - 1 cup
Rice flour - 4 cups
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Hing (Asafoetida) - 1/2 tsp
Salt (to taste)
Butter - 2 tbsp
Oregano leaf juice - 1/2 cup
Oil (to fry)
Method
Cook the moong dal for about five whistles and allow it to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, grind it into a smooth paste. In a mixing bowl, add rice flour, cumin seeds, salt, a pinch of hing, and butter, and mix everything well.
Now add the moong dal paste and combine thoroughly. Mix in oregano leaf juice (karpooravalli ilai juice). If the dough feels too dry, sprinkle a little water as needed and knead it into a soft dough. Heat oil in a pan for deep frying. Fill the dough into a chakli press, squeeze out spiral-shaped murukkus over a ladle or flat spatula, and then carefully slide them into the hot oil. Fry on medium flame, cooking both sides evenly, but without letting them brown too much.
Once they just begin to turn light golden, remove from the oil and drain on tissue paper. Continue the same process until all the dough is used up. Your crispy and flavourful oregano leaves (karpooravalli ilai) murukku is now ready to serve.
R Brinda is a homemaker from Tamil Nadu