Achu Murrukku / Rail Kattadam


I remember my mom trying these cookies and struggling to pull out of the mold. Ok, don't under estimate her cooking skills, my mom rocks in her kitchen! Either the batter never sticks to the mold or the batter sticks forever. She blamed the mold and tried with iron, stainless steel, aluminum mold nothing worked out. Only her "achu murrukku" collection grew up! Still she owns the stainless steel but not in use! She never blamed the recipe because it is passed down by her sister. My aunt prepares these achu murrukku with perfection. She will neatly pack these Achu(mold)murrukku in air tight container and visit us for every Diwali. They were crunchy and almost melt in your mouth with the right hint of sugar. She has ton of patience, I should agree after my attempt! Yes, after trying on my own, I realized I need more than one mold and loads of patience to try with only one mold :) Phew, I am going to buy another mold in my next trip! I got it quiet cheap in my home town, online is very expensive under rosette cookie mold!
Achu murrukku or Rail (=train) Kattadam (=building) is a bizarre Tamil name but probably referred to train wheels :) is simply a deep fried snack, mildly sweet, light and extremely crunchy. These cookies are popular around the globe too: in Tamil Nadu (rail Kattadam/achu murrukku), Kerala (rose cookies), in Malaysia ( as honeycomb/ Kiuh rose) and in Norway as rosette cookies
I assume the rosette was introduced by our colonized people (probably from a Norwaygian?) and the chef have used local ingredient - coconut milk to enhance the flavor or Indianized version! 
Do you know these cookies under different name?




Ingredients:

Raw Rice / Sona Masuri (i used): 1 cup
Fresh Coconut: 3/4 cup grated
Extra large Egg: One count
Sugar: 1/4 cup is enough but use (+ 1 tbsp if u want slightly more sugary)
Sesame seeds: 2 tsp
Salt: a pinch
Oil: to deep fry

Special equipment: Achu murruku mold or Rosette mold

Soaking:
Soak the rice for at least 4 hours with enough water. Rinse thrice or until the water clear out.

Grinding:
Grind the soaked rice and coconut together into fine batter. Using a very little water as possible. At the end, add the sugar and salt.

Mixing
Beat the egg well separately and mix with the ground batter. The batter should be like (pancake batter or dosa batter consistency), add the sesame seeds.

Frying
Heat a deep pot with oil enough to deep fry.
Keep the mold in oil, heat the oil and mold. Now take out the hot mold and dip in batter only 3/4 . Don't immerse fully, the cookie will never slide.
Immerse the mold in hot oil and keep few seconds, with a sharp knife or vadai stick slightly help to pull out the cookie, they will slide in oil.
It cooks pretty quickly, drain in paper towel and cool it completely before storing in air tight container.

Note: First two to three cookies will break. Quiet normal if you own an iron mold but later u should get some beautiful cookies.

I kept my stove in medium heat, because I owned only one cookie mold and few cookies came slightly reddish (temperature of oil was very hot)! 


Tips for brand new mold or mold not used for decade:
If it is brand new mold (iron) - cure the mold first.
Soak for 24 hours the mold in rice water (kanji tanni) : water extracted after cooking the rice.
Next wipe the mold dry, and smear oil generously or keep in oil immerse bowl for two to three days.

Troubleshoot:
If the cookie sticks to the mold: probably you have immersed the mold completely in the batter or the oil temperature is very hot
If the batter doesn't stick: the mold is not hot enough, temperature of oil is low.
If the cookies break, probably u haven't cure the mold before.

Try to have at least two molds before attempting.

Comments

Raks said…
I have tasted once,was very nice,we call it kolusa murukku!
Love them..I buy them when I visit any kerala store...look super delicious..
Sanjeeta kk said…
These are my fave. cookies, Cham! I got to taste this first from my Malayali neighbors during my childhood days. And am hooked to them since then. Love your click.
jayasree said…
Cookies have come out well. LOL at the tami name - rail kattadam...super imagination.
In Kerala its also called as achappam.
Lakshmi said…
perfect kattadams Cham. I have never tasted them, but they look delicious in the picture.
Priya Suresh said…
Achu murukkus makes me nostalgic, even i bought this mould from Pondy but am still to use, as my first attempts was disaster...Thanks for sharing Cham, i can try them now without any hesitation after seeing ur post..
notyet100 said…
cookies look so good,..
Finla said…
My mom and sisters make them with ease too, but i tried and I think I got 5 without sticking and then after that it started sticking , these looks so so perfect and yumm. Shyama love these .
Unknown said…
this is very tempting..good one..
Pari Vasisht said…
Hey, I love them and I agree it needs loads of patience, having an extra mould is a good idea.


FOODELICIOUS
Nandinis food said…
Kalakkitinga! Super. It's very good. I buy them in Kerala stores.
Indian Khana said…
I love this so much ...we get a lot here during Chinese New Year but nothing can beat our Indian version rite :) We use to get these from our neighbor during Diwali and once my mom also tried making this...after some time she got it :)...I always love this one
BongMom said…
My Mom learned it from a neighbor auntie and there was a phase when she would make this often. As you said, the shape wouldn't come out perfect always but it would be good to eat anyway :-)
After my parents moved though, my Mom never made this again !!!
Archy said…
Wow, looks so delicious.. Excatly like the shop once.. Reminds me my childhood,used to eat a lot during Xmas time..
Shama Nagarajan said…
delicious yummy crunchy murukku
Panchpakwan said…
Looks so cruncy and yummy snack.
Unknown said…
I luv this acchu muruku....has come out perefect for u...very tempting click
aipi said…
Aww..those are too pretty to eat..perfectly made!


US Masala
Laavanya said…
I adore this snack but have never attempted to make them. Thanks for the detailed steps - maybe I should get the achu next time I visit.
Padma said…
Love this achu murukku... has come out perfect in shape and color.
Cilantro said…
I love them, Amma never made them though. I would love to try but I do not have the achu. Yours has come out perfect.
Deepthi Shankar said…
these cookies have turned out beautifully Cham
CurryLeaf said…
3 Cheers to you for trying these. I too love achappams but was scared of trying them out. Also have no mold. Yes, online they are very expensive. I am waiting for my next trip to Kerala for buying the molds.Excellent Cham.
Pavani said…
lovely cicks..n crispy murukus..
Jayashree said…
These are called achappam in Kerala. Yours have come out really well.
Tanvi said…
They have come out perfectly.I think u did a wonderful and neat job.
Namitha said…
Love them.It's been a while since I had them. Forgot to get an achu, during my last visit to India :( We call it "achappam" :-)
Swathi said…
Acchappam looks delicious. My favorite. I like your blog,
Latha said…
Me too have this mould and yet to try it. Yours look awesome.
Dibs said…
Reminds me of my childhood days in Bangalore, when a neighbourhood uncle used to bring us a huge boxgul every x'mas! We tried making an eggless version this time (see our xmas post!). It tasted great, but did not colour evenly! Very tough task - and your batch looks awesome!
ruchikacooks said…
yakkov, yennna ithu super aa irruku..Just now logged in..How have you been?
Chitra said…
I wanted to try this for a long time. i dont have this mould. bookmarked !!
Sunitha said…
Awesome! These rose cookies remind me of home. Lovely!
Sujatha said…
I used to enjoy this at Madurai meenakshi temple.. It has awesome taste.. Yours looks perfectly shaped and very tempting.. I should remember to buy this acchu from India next time..
SS blogs here said…
Wow Cham.. the blog has a totally fresh look haan! And your rose cookies look fabulous! I have only seen these on people's blogs.. never in real life. Look very appetizing! Cheers!
Pavani said…
looks crispy n yummy..
Soma said…
When I saw the post title I had no idea what these were, but the moment i saw the picture I knew it!! These are my very favorite things and my grandma would make these. ma never did. i still have her old old mould an never used it. We would call these rose cakes/cookies. every single time my grandma made it I would sit by her. I remember her dipping the mould in hot oil before she dipped it in the batter and it slid right off in the oil. I will have to give this a try with her mould. we never used sesame.
Usha said…
Surprisingly I have never tried this in any of this avatars. Looks so cute and inviting !
lubnakarim06 said…
I love making this....and love munching these also...looks crunchy and yum...
sangeeta said…
This is an exotic snack and i have tasted it once , it is made in oriya homes too.
Your recipe looks like a perfect excuse to try this.
Umm Mymoonah said…
It's been ages since I had this, only my grandmother used to make this. Yours looks so perfect, wish I could have these now.
Priya dharshini said…
Wow..How i missed this post...I never made it,but seen someone making it...U made it wonderfull,u r great,cham