Muru Muru

Muru muru or “rihaakuru chips” is a popular savoury snack in the Maldives. It is usually made by frying thin strips of dough, then coating it with a mixture of rihaakuru and lonumirus. While there are several different ways to prepare this, here is our version of this spicy, scrumptious snack.

For our recipe, we have used the BonLife Sunflower Oil, provided to us by one of our partners, KDM. It is 100% pure refined sunflower seed oil rich in vitamin E and omega 6. It can be used for all cooking purposes like pan frying, sauteing, deep-frying and even in baking.

Serving size: 3

Ingredients:

For the dough

• 1 cup flour
• ¾ tsp chilli powder
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 thinly sliced onion
• 4 cloves chopped garlic
• 15 curry leaves
• ¼ of a scotch bonnet
• 1 tbsp water (for grinding)
• 1-2 tbsp water (for kneading)
• 1 tsp BonLife Sunflower Oil

For frying

• 2 cups BonLife Sunflower Oil

For the rihaakuru mixture

• ¼ cup rihaakuru
• ½ tbsp lonumirus
• 1 tsp finely cut pandan leaf

Instructions:

1. To start off, sift 1 cup flour, ¾ tsp chilli powder, ¼ tsp ground black pepper, and 1/8 tsp salt together into a large bowl. Mix the seasonings with the flour using a spoon and set aside.
2. Then, to a blender with the grinding attachment, add 1 thinly sliced onion, 4 cloves chopped garlic, 15 curry leaves, ¼ of a scotch bonnet, and 1 tbsp water. Blend everything together on high speed for 45 seconds (scrape down the sides after 30 seconds to evenly blend).
3. Add the blended mixture to the seasoned flour and mix with a spoon till large coarse crumbs form. Then gradually add 1-2 tbsp of water while mixing with your hands, just until the dough comes together (it shouldn’t be too wet).
4. Now knead the dough for 2-3 minutes using your hand until a dry, smooth dough (similar to normal roshi dough) forms. Then add 1 tsp BonLife Sunflower Oil and knead again until well combined.
5. Make 6 equal small balls out from the dough and flatten them between your palms. Dust a clean surface with extra flour and roll out the dough portions to make a round roshi of around 6-inches in diameter.
6. Then, heat up a pan at medium-high heat and cook the rolled dough for 35-45 seconds on each side or just until it does not stick to the pan anymore. It will be half-cooked at this point.    
7. Once all the dough is done cooking, cut them into small thin strips of around 3-4 cm in length and ½ cm wide. To make it easier to cut, you can first make 3-4 large vertical strips from each, then cut to thin small strips.
8. Heat up 2 cups of BonLife Sunflower Oil in a pot for 4-5 minutes on high heat. Check whether the oil is fully heated by placing a small piece of dough in it; if small bubbles start rapidly forming around the dough, then the oil is ready for frying.
9. In 3 batches, fry the dough strips for 2 minutes or until it turns crispy and lightly golden in colour. You might have to fry the first batch for a bit longer as the oil is getting hotter. Then transfer them to an oil draining basket/strainer and set aside. The colour will turn to a more vibrant brown when cooled.
10. Now onto preparing the rihaakuru mixture. For this, add ¼ cup rihaakuru, ½ tbsp lonumirus, and 1 tsp finely cut pandan leaves to a pan. Then stir and cook on medium low heat for 2 minutes or until the rihaakuru is runny and drippy.
11. Lastly, add the fried crispy muru muru dough and coat with the rihaakuru evenly. Turn off the heat and transfer to a serving plate/jar. The muru muru tastes even better after a day because the flavours are settled into it.