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Morkali – Fermented Morkali Recipe, Traditional Morkali

May 14, 2016 by Suguna Vinodh 25 Comments

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morkali

I am a great fan of fermented foods. When the legendary Chithra Viswanathan had posted a picture of this morkali in a forum, I was instantly hooked. The unique thing about this recipe is that the batter for this recipe is naturally fermented. These days, the morkali we know is the “instant” morkali made with a batter of rice flour and sour curd.

CV was very generous to share her family recipe and this is the story behind this amazing recipe.
Whenever amma ground rice for sevai (string hoppers) with puzhungarisi (par boiled rice), amma used to reserve some of the batter for making morkali. The batter was usually fermented for 24-48 hours. One can even ferment it upto 36 hours. The batter stays good and does not rot. When amma was bedridden in her final years, my sister used to have this batter in the fridge at all times, so she could make it at moments notice. However small an amount, the recipe can be made with just enough batter. If made the right way, it just glides down the throat. Its easily digestible too because of the fermentation.

Recipes like these are hard to find. We are slowly losing the art of fermentation in this busy world. Just a little bit of planning and you will have a wonderful and heathy dish that you can make for your loved ones. Here is the recipe for naturally fermented morkali. Its the wonderful soulfood as they say!

Wash and soak the par boiled rice (I used Idly rice) in water for 24 hours. Drain the soaked rice and grind the rice along with coconut and a cup of water. Grind the ingredients in a mixie to a fine paste. Do not grind it to a watery mixture. Grind it to a thick paste. Mix in the salt and set aside to ferment in a draft free place. I allowed it to ferment for 24 hours.

fermented morkali-ground

After the time, the batter would smell sour and little foamy. The batter did not foam a lot for me like idli batter does. It foamed very little. Add in about a cup of water to dilute. It should be a thin batter (consistency of a light sauce, thinner than the dosa batter).

fermented morkali-fermented-batter

Now the tempering! Its a simple traditional tempering that goes in for making the Kali. Traditionally curd chillies (mor milagai) is used. I did not have mor milagai. So used dried red chillies.

fermented morkali-tempering

Heat oil in a pan and add in the mustard seeds. Let it splutter. Add in the split urad dal and split chana dal. Let it slightly brown. Add in the curry leaves, red chillies and asafoetida. Fry briefly for a couple of seconds. Add in the batter. Stir on a medium flame.

fermented morkali-cook

Keep stirring the batter. It will keep thickening. Keep stirring until it has thickened well and does not stick to the pan anymore.

fermented morkali-not-stick-to-pan

Switch off the flame and remove it to a plate. Let it cool. Cut into cubes and serve.

fermented morkali-recipe

 

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fermented morkali-recipe

Morkali – Fermented Morkali Recipe


★★★★★

5 from 7 reviews

  • Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
  • Total Time: 48 hours 10 mins
  • Yield: 3
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Description

Naurally fermented morkali recipe. Traditional mor kali recipe made using fermented rice batter.


Ingredients

Scale

For the batter

  • 1 cup parboiled rice ( I used idli rice)
  • 1/4 cup coconut
  • 1 teaspoon salt

For tempering

  • 2 tablespoon peanut oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1 teaspoon split white urad dal
  • 1 teaspoon split chana dal
  • 2–3 dried curd chillies (mor milagai)
  • 2 sprig curry leaves, chopped
  • 1/4 teaspoon asafoetida (hing), perungayam

Instructions

  1. Wash and soak the par boiled rice in water for 24 hours. Drain the soaked rice and grind the rice along with coconut and a cup of water. Mix in the salt and set aside to ferment in a draft free place for 24 hours.
  2. After the time, the batter would smell sour and little foamy. Add in about a cup of water to dilute. It should be a thin batter (consistency of a light sauce).
  3. Heat oil in a pan and add in the mustard seeds. Let it splutter. Add in the split urad dal and split chana dal. Let it slightly brown. Add in the curry leaves, red chillies and asafoetida. Fry briefly for a couple of seconds. Add in the batter. Stir on a medium flame.
  4. Keep stirring the batter. It will keep thickening. Keep stirring until it has thickened well and does not stick to the pan anymore.
  5. Switch off the flame and remove it to a plate. Let it cool. Cut into cubes and serve.

Notes

Optional:
For garnish, I have used sliced green chillies, red chillies, curry leaves and coriander leaves.

  • Prep Time: 48 hours
  • Cook Time: 10 mins
  • Category: Main dish
  • Cuisine: Tamilnadu

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fermented-morkali

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Suguna Vinodh

I'm Suguna Vinodh aka Kannamma. I love south Indian food and I am passionate about baking. My Favorite things include my Wusthof knife, Coffee, Ilayaraja, Tamil and beaches. I love Jacques Pepin and Julia Child.

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Comments

  1. Sudhir Narasimhan says

    December 8, 2019 at 9:29 pm

    This recipe just reminded me of my mom who used to make a wonderful Morkali in the days there were no fridges etc. Thanks for sharing the recipe Kannamma. I’m going to give this a shot.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  2. Deepa says

    January 10, 2018 at 9:48 pm

    Hi just tried this today.. apa , awesome one.. have not hearths receive, but tried tday.. really really awesome as usual.. thanks a lot kannamma…. Tried Ragi kali as well.. it turned out superb.. happiness is my mom and dad loved that very much.. happy terms moment..

    Could u pls suggest me good brand and model number of Microwave oven?? Would love to enter into baking world also.. I m zero at baking, but would love to try cakes biscuits from Ur web site.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Suguna Vinodh says

      January 11, 2018 at 1:56 pm

      Thanks Deepa. I do not have a microwave at home.
      You can get an OTG for baking. I have heard bajaj is good.

      Reply
  3. Sudarvizhi says

    April 27, 2017 at 5:53 am

    Hi Akka
    I tried this morkali, this is so tasty..my husband likes it too. Thank u..

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Suguna Vinodh says

      April 27, 2017 at 1:49 pm

      Thank you so much. Really glad that you liked it!

      Reply
  4. Sri says

    December 29, 2016 at 1:48 pm

    I am HUGE fan of fermented foods. I have been looking for traditional Tamilnadu recipes for breakfast like Kambu koozhu, fermented ragi kanji etc which farmers eat before going off to work. My only option for a fermented breakfast right now is idli/dosai. Can you post more such recipes please? Thank you so much for this delicious recipe!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Suguna Vinodh says

      December 29, 2016 at 7:39 pm

      Sure Sri. Will post soon!

      Reply
  5. Srini says

    December 13, 2016 at 7:55 pm

    I remember my paati making Morkali in a wrought iron pan. And she’d let the kali get burnt/crispy a bit with some oil so that we could scrape it off the base of the ‘kadaai’ with the ‘karandi’. My grandpa used to love eating it with a little bit of sugar, or some lime pickle. And I loved the crispy flakes that we’d scrape from the pan.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Suguna Vinodh says

      December 13, 2016 at 9:42 pm

      WOW! Thats such a wonderful kitchen memory Srini. So nice!

      Reply
  6. Mathias Gomes says

    December 13, 2016 at 1:37 pm

    Why didn’t you use tairu at least 2 table spoon and add water to the fermented Morkali , my Mum does that?

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  7. Utthara says

    December 9, 2016 at 5:44 pm

    Hi suguna, do we need to add mor to this recipe? Also can I make this in a kadai instead of non stick one. How can I do it without the mixture getting stuck to the bottom of the kadai?

    Reply
    • Suguna Vinodh says

      December 9, 2016 at 7:53 pm

      This recipe uses natural fermenting
      No mor. Also if using normal Kadai, you might have to use extra oil to avoid sticking.

      Reply
  8. Deep says

    July 28, 2016 at 7:47 pm

    I have never tasted this before nor have I heard of it.. Tried this out with the blind hope that anything from your website comes out good.. it was a pleasant homely recipe and something that I’ll surely try out again.

    Reply
    • Suguna Vinodh says

      July 28, 2016 at 9:32 pm

      Thank you Deep. really glad you liked it.

      Reply
  9. Gayathri Satishkumaar says

    June 30, 2016 at 8:53 pm

    Hi Suguna,

    Should we actually soak the par boiled rice for 24 hours before grinding?

    Thanks and regards

    Reply
    • Suguna Vinodh says

      July 1, 2016 at 10:50 pm

      You are right. This recipe works on natural fermentation and its important to give time for the fermentation to happen.

      Reply
  10. Raji says

    May 26, 2016 at 7:11 am

    This is something I have never tried.So I can’t tell exactly whether it tastes like your original one.But worth trying something different than the usual one.My husband said that morkali tasted good.And as usual the credit goes to you.

    Reply
    • Suguna Vinodh says

      May 26, 2016 at 10:19 am

      Thank You!

      Reply
  11. priya senthil kumar says

    May 19, 2016 at 4:10 pm

    thank you mam.

    Reply
  12. Ranjini says

    May 14, 2016 at 8:03 pm

    I am surprised morkali didn’t have any mor (buttermilk). I am a huge fan or morkali and we make it frequently at our household, but instead of water to dilute the batter, we use buttermilk and I always thought that’s where the name comes from :). Anyway, huge fan of your posts ! Much love !

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Suguna Vinodh says

      May 14, 2016 at 8:40 pm

      This is a naturally fermented batter Ranjini!

      Reply
  13. priya senthil kumar says

    May 14, 2016 at 7:07 pm

    awesome and tempting. kindly suggest some baking sets &` tools, i am planning to buy it from amazon.

    Reply
    • Suguna Vinodh says

      May 14, 2016 at 7:24 pm

      Can you tell me what you are planning to bake?

      Reply
    • priya senthil kumar says

      May 15, 2016 at 8:30 pm

      cake mam

      Reply
      • Suguna Vinodh says

        May 15, 2016 at 11:18 pm

        you can buy some 8 inch cake pans to start with. A hand blender, whisk, silicon spatula, parchment paper measuring cups and measuring spoons. A weighing scale will be useful in the long run. Hope this helps.

        Reply

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I’m Suguna, a former financial analyst, now a full-time food blogger. Welcome to my space. I share recipes gathered from my friends and family here. I am passionate about South Indian food. I crazy love knives. A sharp knife is a girls best friend. Hope you like the recipes here. Happy Cooking. Read more.....

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