Arisi Vartral | Arisi Vadaam | Rice Crisps

I love these crisps.I like to much these as a snack or as a side dish with a meal.Its already very sunny in my part of the world and its the right time to prepare these crisps and store them for future use.Since they are sun dried, they have a very good shelf life.When in need of a snack or a side dish,just deep fry them and enjoy...

Though these are available in the stores, mom always insists that she prepare some for us.Here is her version of these rice crisps.

You need a murukku press for this and mom uses 'achu' number 1 [see picture below] for this.

Mom uses:

Raw rice - 6 cups
Sago -3/4 cup

Grind rice and sago to a fine powder.This can be done at home or at the rice flour mill.
If its done in the mill,it will be heated up so spread it on a cloth and when its cool, sift well.Else it will clog the hole in the murukku press.
Store in an air tight container.

With this quantity you can prepare several batches of these rice crisps.Once the flour is ready , you can proceed at your own pace.But be sure to store the flour in an air tight container and use a dry ladle to scoop out the flour from the bulk bin.

Proceed as follows...

Grind together green chillies which you can add more or less depending on your taste, a pinch of asafoetida powder to a fine paste using a water.Filter this and reserve the extract.
The general rice flour : water ratio is 1 : 1.5 cups but it can vary depending on the quality of the rice.Some varieties absorb more water.So always keep another cup or two of boiling water nearby before you start.
Heat a heavy bottom pan with water [use the ratio above] depending on the quantity of rice flour you are using.
Add the green chilli extract, salt and a few drops of sesame seed oil.[Oil prevents the flour from sticking to the bottom of the pan.]
Once the water comes to a rolling boil, add the rice flour little by little and keep stirring after each addition.If necessary add a little hot water that you have kept ready in step 2.
Keep stirring so that there are no lumps.
The flour will get cooked and become glossy and leave the sides of the pan.
Remove from heat and transfer to a another vessel.
When the dough is cool enough add a few teaspoons of lemon juice into the dough and mix well.The lemon juice adds flavor and the crisps when fried will have a bright white color.But when you add too much lemon juice the color turns brown / red and tastes bitter.
Knead for a few minutes greasing your palm with a little sesame oil.
Pinch out a lump and fill the murukku press fitted with nozzle no.1[see picture of murukku press above]
Spread out a large cloth/ plastic sheet in a sunny area and place some heavy object around the cloth / sheet so that it does not get disturbed due to the winds
Press out the crisps as a straight line.Don't worry if its not straight :)
Refill the press with the remaining dough and press out the crisps.Let it dry in the sun.
Bring in the cloth or sheet indoors in the evening and put it out to dry the next day.
Repeat this until the crisps have dried completely.