Its in the eye !

Three quarters of the legendary ‘big fat tyre’ just beneath the chest is not only because of a sedentary life style or whatever else that the world will have us believe often. A good vision with a pinch of a vivid imagination can be as potent as well !

Now, you are either taking umbrage or laughing away at the nadirs of emptiness in the mind that i have reached. hmm Well, seriously… Take a look at this.


Here are whats called ‘murukku‘ in Tamil territory.

Not much technology here. Infact, age old recipe. Plain old flour coming from grain, going through different moulds to create basic designs. Of course, deep fried in oil or sometimes in mouth watering ghee !

There you go. Petals. Whorls. Plain surfaces. Labyrinthine mazes. A sight to the eye. All hoarding calories like a glutton engulfed with additional greed !

Invariably its the eye that spots these. The whorls and patterns draw the eye like parched land to rain !

The mind and imagination then kick in their work. The imagined taste of each of these awaken the slumber of hidden taste buds resting in the tongue.

The ears hear the crackle of the ‘murukku’ against the teeth, the melting of the ghee and the after taste after the murukku is long gone into the deepest recesses of the tyre !

( Yes, the mind allows thinking of the tyre to seep in only after the snack sinks into the alimentary canal ) !

And even as the mind is thinking of all of this, the eyes induce the hands to declare independence. The wallet comes out and in a while the rest of the world hears the crackle : the crackle of the murukku as the teeth work on them !

The rest is history !

Ah ! The eyes !

17 thoughts on “Its in the eye !

  1. Perfect spicy petals
    whispering
    with the wild whorls,
    on the recent
    hot experience,
    while the traditional
    spirals
    brush off
    their disapproving
    modern glances
    on
    their old-style
    slightly thorny surface.

    Firmly holding on,
    to the
    maiden name,
    “Murukku”,
    while the rest
    of modern types
    call themselves
    “Crunchies”
    on Facebook …..

    And the
    poetic marathoner,
    shuts his wallet,
    takes a bite,
    and types in a
    Facebook status,
    saying,
    “Eat it,
    while the “I” is there;
    you will
    soon learn
    what
    to perform everyday,
    when the “I”
    disappears
    from the mind……

  2. yum! Are those all home made?! Btw, put up pics of my mom in my post now. Check it out if interested.

  3. Pins N Ashes says:

    Oh! Kavi…
    Murukkus are my fav too…
    Once I found a shop churning out murukus as big as a diner plate… :):)

    Droooling at the murukkus, no words visible now:):)

  4. RGB says:

    Yum-scrum. Murukkus are my favourite snack! I miss those crunchy murukkus of Tamil nadu.

    Did u take that picture? So many varieties of them!

    And who cares if eating murukkus adds to the tyres. It’s too good to resist.

    Enjoyed reading your post.

  5. This is one thing that you can’t eat without others knowing about it.CRACK

  6. Danesh says:

    As a child, I used to be be bribed with Murukkus to go to school 🙂

  7. Pearl says:

    I would try these.

    Over and over again, I suspect!

    Pearl

  8. radha says:

    It is the case of a minute on your lips and a lifetime on the hips?

  9. Pooh! says:

    Acchu murukku – it has been ages since I had them.. drooling.. I need to get to India NOW to get my fill of acchu murukku

  10. Haddock says:

    Always loved achappam

  11. Neha says:

    yummmmm..as kids, we used to make others jealous in schools by making the CRACK noise..luckily, my school never had restrictions on what we could carry in our tiffins..

    you know, my mom makes sabudana ka papad, rice ka papad – small ones..they are so tasty..

    I guess, the kid in me is woken up..gotta visit mom tomorrow now 🙂

  12. Arundhati says:

    Thanks to your post, I ended up snacking on biscuits at midnight! No murukkus stocked u c…

    I always say I don’t like murukkus (and its siblings – thattai, seedai, thenkuzhal), then end up having more than half of whats on S’ plate 🙂 But I do prefer the sweet varieties – vella thenkuzhal, adhirasam, appam

    I have been feeling a little sad that the art of making these delicacies will be lost with this generation. Who makes these anymore, we buy them from Grand sweets or the Iyengar outlets (in Bangalore) or the homemade maami ones (in Tamilnadu).

  13. Aparna says:

    Such a lovely snack with evening tea.Who cares about the tummy, it expands no matter what.

  14. nsiyer says:

    ada da da. I love the muruku which I am trying to resist nowadays.

  15. Kavi says:

    Ugich Konitari : Take a bow. Once again. As much as the tyre would allow !

    The poetic marathoner better shut his mouth, if has any dreams of having a decent run in this year’s marathon ! Pictures of murukku dont help !

    Fantastic and thank you !

    roshini : Thanks ! Yes. Kind of home made ! 🙂

    Pins N Ashes : as big as a dinner plate ? Well, thats small size in my standards. It has to be a bathtub size for me to raise eyebrows !

    RGB : Yes. All pictures on this blog are mine ! 🙂 Well, nobody cares except say perhaps for that lurking gentleman called conscience and good health !

    The Holy Lama : You bet. It has to crack. That crack brings a certain taste along with it ! 🙂

    Danesh : Well, well, i had other bribes. The murukkus came so naturally and stayed there ! 🙂

    Pearl : i am reasonably sure ! 🙂

    Radha : yes yes. And i would like to believe that it is the same with all people. Ok. At least most people ! 🙂

    Pooh : its available in pre packed varieties here. Not as good. But then, there is this satisfaction of eating an Achu murukku ! 🙂

    Haddock : Well, who didnt ! Anybody who didnt would have broken the mould ! Whatsay ?

    🙂

    neha : neither did my school. Anything was ok, as long as it was vegetarian ! And yes, sabudana papad is a personal favourite too ! Get it to the meet the next time ! 🙂

    Arundhati : Well, well..the blame lies on this post is it !?! 🙂

    Aparna : Ofcourse. It expands no matter what !! Ofcourse, ofcourse !

    NS Iyer : Well, i cant go much on the distance sir!

  16. Kavitha says:

    Murruka vida, ezhuthina vidam, nalla narrukkunu murrukku matri irrunthathu! 😀

    Good write-up…reading it felt as if eating one! 🙂

  17. Varsha says:

    ahh, I am hungry now…..

    The eyes! you are right there, bang on. Its the visual feast that makes you hungry. No talk or even a write up about murukku will make you drool as much as a lovely pic or the sight of them!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.