Sakinalu is a traditional Telangana Snack made with homemade rice flour and sesame seeds. This snack is a must during Makara Sankranti and given to grooms during weddings.
When I first came to know about this snack was when Usha had posted it for one of the Mega BMs. So since then, I had been wanting to try this and what better chance than the BM#104 Sweets & Snacks.
So I decided to have it for the Mandatory 4th week for Telangana. However, when we met for our BM#100 Meet at Hyderabad, Usha was kind enough to get her Mom and Aunt to demonstrate the making of Sakinalu and we all felt it was truly daunting.
Some of us tried our hands at making it right then and Aunties were kind and patient enough to explain the knack of making it. Sakinalu is a cousin to Kai Murukku from Tamil Nadu, though the recipe is different. It’s similar in that both the snacks require you to have magic in twisting your fingers to spin thin dough strings out.
Anyway, after seeing how it is prepared, none of the members want to have this on their list. We changed the list to something else. Since I was planning on making Pindi Vantalu my choice for the third week, I decided I would make it.
I read the recipe to Amma and she was so shocked to read the amount of sesame seeds added. I also referred to Harichandana’s recipe and finally made it. Since I was making many snacks, I made with 1.5 cups of rice flour, the whole process took more than an hour as it involved clicking pictures, taking video with one hand, and what not!
I made plain Sakinalu and Erra Sakinalu and this one snack take time to grow over you. If you are not very fond of sesame seeds, it will be an acquired taste. Since I love sesame seeds, I enjoyed eating this snack.
As part of the Rice Based Traditional Snacks, I have Sakinalu in the BM#104 Sweets & Snacks, while it's another vada in Spice your Life!
Week 1 - Sweets (Indian Halwas)
Day 1 is Carrot Coconut Milk Halwa
Day 2 is Singhara Ka Atta Halwa
Day 3 is Kuttu Ka Halwa
Day 4 is Rajgira Halwa
Day 5 is Sweet Potato Halwa
Day 6 is Akhrot Ka Halwa
Week 2 - Snack from the same State (Rajasthan)
Day 1 is Rajasthani Mirchi Vada
Day 2 is Pudina Tikoni Paratdar Mathri
Day 3 is Matar Kachori
Day 4 is Rajasthani Methi Mathri
Day 5 is Pyaz ki Kachori
Day 6 is Kanji Wada
Week 3 - Snack of our choice (Rice based Traditional Snacks)
Day 1 is Kai Murukku
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Step By Step Pictures to make Sakinalu
How to make Sakinalu - Video
[recipe-video] 
Sakinalu | How to make Erra Sakinalu
Ingredients Needed:
1 cup Raw Rice (1.5 cups Rice Flour)
1/2 cup Sesame Seeds
1/2 tsp Ajwain Seeds
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying
1 tsp Red Chili Powder (for Erra Sakinalu)
How to make Sakinalu at home
Homemade rice flour is best for this and you can follow the instructions to make Rice flour at home.
Take 1.5 cups of prepared rice flour in a mixing bowl.
Add salt, ajwain seeds and sesame seeds to it and mix well.
Add water little by little and make a dough.
How much water would be needed depends on the flour. The final dough should be loose but it not be too loose. Once you have mixed, let it rest for 15 mins.
When ready to make the Sakinalu, spread a clean cotton cloth on a flat surface.
Wet your hands and take a small portion of the dough in hand and pipe the dough into circles (refer to the video).
Since you are resting the dough, sesame and rice flour would have made the dough quite sticky and pliable to roll out.
Make all the dough to Sakinalu and let them dry for 1 – 2 hours.
Use a flat spatula or a flat plate for taking the sakinalu from the cloth. Carefully remove them from the cloth and set aside. Remember that the rolled out sakinalu would be very dry when you remove for frying.
Heat oil in a pan for deep frying.
Slowly drop the sakinalu into the hot oil. Fry them on both sides on a medium flame till light golden color.
Remove from the oil and let them cool.
Store in an airtight container.
Recipe
Sakinalu | How to make Erra Sakinalu
Ingredients
- 1 cup Raw Rice (1.5 cups Rice Flour)
- 1/2 cup Sesame Seeds
- 1/2 tsp Ajwain Seeds
- Salt to taste
- Cooking Oil for deep frying
- 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder for Erra Sakinalu
Instructions
- Homemade rice flour is best for this and you can follow the instructions to make Rice flour at home.
- Take 1.5 cups of prepared rice flour in a mixing bowl.
- Add salt, ajwain seeds and sesame seeds to it and mix well.
- Add water little by little and make a dough.
- How much water would be needed depends on the flour. The final dough should be loose but it not be too loose. Once you have mixed, let it rest for 15 mins.
- When ready to make the Sakinalu, spread a clean cotton cloth on a flat surface.
- Wet your hands and take a small portion of the dough in hand and pipe the dough into circles (refer to the video).
- Since you are resting the dough, sesame and rice flour would have made the dough quite sticky and pliable to roll out.
- Make all the dough to Sakinalu and let them dry for 1 – 2 hours.
- Use a flat spatula or a flat plate for taking the sakinalu from the cloth. Carefully remove them from the cloth and set aside. Remember that the rolled out sakinalu would be very dry when you remove for frying.
- Heat cooking oil in a pan for deep frying.
- Slowly drop the sakinalu into the hot cooking oil. Fry them on both sides on a medium flame till light golden color.
- Remove from the oil and let them cool.
- Store in an airtight container.
I have featured the entire list that you can prepare for Diwali on both SYL and C4AS Sweets and Snacks & Sweets & Snacks for Diwali.
Usha says
Actually these have come out good for first attempt Valli. Actually during the demo my aunt mentioned that for beginners, it is easy to shape sanikam with less sesame seeds. More the sesame seeds it gets challenging to twist the fingers if you are not use to it. Thanks for the mention.
Vaishali Sabnani says
Awesome , you took the challenge ! While we all backed out .. ehe .. never thought you will try it . Seriously it’s cone out really good , kudos , you surely need a pat on the back :))
Amara says
Absolutely Vaishali, Valli's dedication is surely commendable. Lot of practice is needed for this and she made it and that too so good.
Suma Gandlur says
A labor of love. You seemed to have tried all the recipes originally discussed for the last week of this BM and succeeded in them. I am not sure that I am even inclined to try fried foods like these and that kai murukku after seeing your posts. They seem quite challenging. 🙂
Srivalli says
Thank you everybody! I was so glad I could make this snack and try my hand twisting. However, the beautiful shape comes from practice of many sessions and I am sure I will not be able to do it..:)
Harini Rupanagudi says
Wonderful attempt Valli. They have come out really good. I agree practice is what is required and glad that you were able to make it.
Narmadha says
You are pro Valli and I was really worried how I will make this for mandatory week. So happy when you replaced with thattai. It has some out so good and like the way how you challenge yourself