Theingolu/ Theingolalu\TeingoL (Deep fried,rice and urad flour snack)

        

A deep fried snack for you guys today! Theingolalu is a deep fried snack that's very similar to chakli. While chakli is more widely known and is relished by everyone all over India, this one is more authentic and known only in the Mysore - Bangalore regions of Karnataka. The process involved in making Theingolalu is tedious and time consuming, but the end product is delicious! And you know how moms are.... they wouldn't mind going through all the pains, as long as their little one relishes it. Yes, my mom made this for me and brought it along while coming here to visit us! :) I would never have gone through the trouble of making it myself :P Here is how she made it...

Ingredients:

1 cup Urad Dal/ Urad flour

3 cups Uncooked White rice

1 tbsp Butter

1/2 tsp Hing

1 tsp Jeera/Cumin seeds

Salt as per taste

Oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Wash and drain the rice and Urad dal separately; Spread on paper towels and let dry for about 2 hours.
2. Dry roast the rice until it turns mildly warm- Make sure not to over roast.
3. Powder the rice and Urad dal separately in a blender; DO NOT add any water while powdering. Note: If you are using Urad flour, you could skip step 1; Follow step 3 for rice only and continue with the next step.
4. Mix both flours, melted butter, salt, cumin seeds and knead into a dough- Add water as required; The dough should be of the same consistency as of the poori dough, or slightly thicker than the chapati dough.
5. Stuff the dough into the traditional chakli press/maker; Press into circles of desired shape.
6. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan; Drop them one by one and fry on medium flame until they turn lightly golden in color.
7. Drain on paper towels and let cool; Store in air tight containers. Relish with tea/coffee or just as is.

Tip:

• If you have enough time in hand, make the rice and urad powders and set them aside for a couple of days before you proceed with making Theingolalu. The color and texture turns out better this way.
• If you have access to to any flour mill, it would be a good idea to get the urad dal and rice powdered at the mill instead of using the blender.... You would have a finer and smoother powder this way.
• The Urad-Rice mixture can be made well in advance and stored/frozen for almost a year; So when you have guests over, all you need to do is knead it into a dough and then deep fry; Theingolalu would be ready in just a few minutes!
• Theingolalu can be stored in air tight containers for up to 3-4 weeks!
• Traditionally, the "bille" (the circular, detachable bottom portion of the chakli press containing perforations, through which the dough oozes out) used for theingolalu contains three medium sized circular perforations, while the "bille" for chakli contains only one star shaped perforation. Every Chakli press comes with multiple "bille"s of various types and perforations, So you could choose whichever suits you best.

Makes: About 25-30 Theingolalu;

Prep Time: About 60-90 mins, excluding soaking time;