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SAKINALU

A traditional deep-fried, round concentric shaped snack from Telangana, prepared with freshly ground rice flour, sesame seeds and carom seeds.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Making rice flour8 hours
Total Time8 hours 40 minutes
Course: Snack
Cuisine: Telangana
Keyword: Snacks, Tea time snacks, vegan
Author: Shravani Abhishek

Equipment

  • Wok / Kadai/ Deep frying pan
  • Flat spatula
  • Pure cotton cloth - length of 4*4 feet
  • 2 Fine colanders

Ingredients

Rice flour

  • 1 kg Rice prefer aged rice

Tella Sakinalu

  • 2 cups Rice flour
  • ¾ cup Sesame seeds
  • 2 tsp Carom seeds
  • Salt to taste

Karam Sakinalu

  • 2 cups Rice flour
  • 10 cloves Garlic
  • 2 tbsp Red chilli powder
  • Salt to taste
  • ¾ cup Sesame seeds
  • 2 tsp Carom seeds

Instructions

Prep and Making rice flour

  • Soak the rice overnight or upto 6 hours.
  • Strain the water and put the rice in a strainer for 10-15 minutes to drain excess water. Later spread the strained rice on cotton cloth until they are semi dry. (15 mins would suffice)
  • Meanwhile wash the sesame seeds, drain the water and place them in a separate fine colander to get rid of excess water.
  • Get the rice grind to fine consistency in local flour mill.
    Or blend the rice in blender in small quantities until fine powder and sieve the powdered rice flour to get rid of any coarse bits.
  • Note : The flour should be smooth when rubbed between two fingers, there should not be any coarse bits.
  • Rice flour for Sakinalu is ready now.

Making the sakinalu dough

  • In a mixing bowl add freshly ground rice flour, sesame seeds, crushed carom seeds, salt to taste and give everything a good mix.
  • Using filtered cold water, add gradually into the mixing bowl with above ingredients and mix to make a soft dough.
    Note : When the dough is touched it should not stick to the fingers.
  • Keep this bowl covered until we spread the Cotton cloth for shaping the sakinalu.

Shaping the sakinalu

  • Spread a thick cotton bedsheet or cloth on floor, on which we make the sakinalu.
  • Take a handful of dough at a time, using your three fingers(thumb, forefinger and middle finger) twist and roll the dough and shape on the cotton cloth in a circular fashion.
  • Make two concentric circular sakinalu for ease.
  • Repeat for the remaining sakinalu dough.
  • Sakinalu should be dried before frying them, this may take around 30-45 mins depending on the humid and temperature.

Frying the sakinalu

  • Heat a kadai, add oil enough for deep frying. Drop a piece of dough to check the temperature.
  • Once the sakinalu are dry, use a flat spatula and gently slide the spatula under the sakinam and lift it gently and place it on a plate.
  • Take 10 sakinalu at a time for ease, and drop these gently into the hot oil for frying.
    Note : Use medium heat for uniform cooking
  • After dropping the sakinalu in oil, wait for them to float in oil and then turn them around. Fry the sakinalu until they are evenly fried on both sides.
  • Using a garela pulla (a metal skewer used to remove any deep fried food like garelu, chegodi or sakinam), catch all the sakinalu from oil into this skewer. Remove them from oil.
  • Place this garela pulla or metal skewer on a colander to get rid of any excess oil.
    Note : If you do not have a garela pulla/metal skewer, use a slotted spoon and take out sakinalu using it.
  • Once the oil stops dripping from the sakinalu, place them in a bowl lined with paper towel to get rid of any excess oil.
  • Repeat the above steps for remaining shaped Sakinalu.

Storing the sakinalu

  • When the fried sakinalu are completely cooled down, transfer them to an airtight container.
  • Serve the sakinalu as a teatime snack or just to munch on.

Notes

  • Rice Flour – Here in the US, we can use the rice flour sold in Chinese stores. There are two varieties sold in Chinese store and pick the packet that has rice and water on the ingredient list. This rice flour works for sakinalu and some of my aunts use it to make sakinalu here. This rice flour also works for ariselu.
  • Sesame Seeds – Use 1:3 sesame seeds to rice flour if you are making sakinalu for the first time and are not a seasoned sakinalu maker. Use 1:2 ½ ratio for more sesame seeds. More seeds in the dough, challenging it is to shape sakinalu.
  • Dough – If the dough becomes very sticky due to excess water in plain sakinalu dough, cover it with a dry cloth or roll it on dry cloth. The cloth will absorb excess water. If this happens with karam sakinalu or green chilies sakinalu dough, the only option is adding more flour. Usually cloth can not absorb as much moisture from spicy sakinalu dough.
  • Salty Dough - Cloth absorbs salt. If the dough is salty, roll it on the cloth and mind you, this also make the dough dry. Add some water to bring the dough to the right consistency before shaping sakinalu.
  • Time to Prepare Sakinalu – Cousin A says, seasoned sakinalu maker can shape 20 sakinalu in 10 - 15 minutes, about 30 - 45 minutes to dry and 10 - 20 minutes to fry, depending on the size of the frying pan.