For some, the ubiquitous muruku is a tasty income earner during festive times.
SHE works her way around the kitchen like a busy worker bee. One minute she is at the stove, stirring coconut milk as it comes to a rolling boil. The next, she is busy emptying packets of muruku mix into a mixing bowl, adding omum (also known as ajwain, thyme or caraway seeds) and sesame seeds in as well.
Rani Kaaniah, or Sita as she is known to friends, has been making muruku commercially for the past 14 years.
Rani Kaaniah forming the muruku twirls. Orphaned at the age of 16, she found satisfaction learning to make traditional Indian sweets and cakes. Today, at 38, Rani is quite well-known in Taman Sri Rampai and the Setapak Jaya area for her good, crisp and tasty muruku and also for her sweet achi muruku, also known as kuih ros.
As she quickly binds the muruku mix and the coconut milk together to make a soft, pliable dough, she relates that she learnt how to make this all-time favourite from a neighbour.
“I was fascinated by the deft hands of my neighbour, who then suggested that I participate and eventually, I became as skilled as she was,” she says with a shy smile.
Rani believes making muruku is not only a way for her to earn some money but also to keep traditions rooted for her family.
“I include my children in this activity and during Hari Raya Puasa, Chinese New Year, Deepavali and Christmas, all four of my children, including the youngest who is only 11, will help me complete my orders,” she says.
During the recent Hari Raya festivities, she received a mountain of orders and the children had to help her with them, she adds.
Rani works the dough into a cylindrical mass and stuffs it into a modern metal muruku mould. Less than a minute later, she is already twirling the dough into circles of tasty muruku.
While waiting for the cooking oil to heat up, she says that she used to make muruku from scratch.
“But now that I live in a flat, it is simply impossible to put my rice flour and the spices out to dry and then grind them. So, I opt for the muruku mix, which is pretty complete, and I only adjust the amount of coconut milk I put in and the extras like omum and sesame seeds.”
Rani tells us that she goes through between 200 and 300 muruku mix packets every festive season. Deepavali is the most tiring for her as she is on her feet until 3am daily and is up again at 6am to see her children off to school.
Rani sells her muruku in single-serving packets at RM2.50 each. Larger orders are packed in bottles or 4kg-biscuit tins.
She also gets help from a close friend, Charanjit Kaur, who runs the Moga Punjab Sweets company, which sells all types of Indian sweetmeats.
Charanjit says she has been ordering muruku from Rani for many years and finds that she consistently maintains her quality.
“I have very loyal customers who request for Rani’s muruku only year after year and they do so some two months beforehand.”
Rani has a tip for reviving muruku that has sat a little too long outside its air-tight container. “Just put it on a plate and microwave for about two minutes. That will set it back to its usual crispness,” she says.
“Don’t refry the muruku. It will be burnt and the taste will not be the same. It will also be too hard to enjoy,” says Rani as she finishes up the dough and fries them in batches.
Here’s her recipe for those who want to give it a try at home:
- 3 packets muruku mix
- 8 cups coconut milk (from one coconut)
- 80g omum
- 80g sesame seeds
- Salt
- Cooking oil for deep frying
When the dough is pliable, use your hands to roll it until it is well mixed and can be plied into a bowl.
Take a little dough, shape it into a cylindrical mass (pic left) and then fill the muruku mould. As a time-saving measure, press the muruku dough onto the surface of plastic bags and then fry them until they are crisp and golden brown.
Let the muruku cool and the excess oil drip before storing them in air-tight containers.
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