Everything munyu musherekha: 10 simple steps make the perfect munyu, How to wow cooking healthy with mushelekha, easy Luhya recipes to try out

What is munyu mushelekha? Also known as munyu musherekha or simply munyu is a special seasoning that’s at the heart of Luhya food. In this post you’ll learn all there is to munyu musherekha. To spice things up, we also offer a treat of in house recipes that use munyu musherekha for you to try out. Now that you are here, I encourage you to check out this tutorial on making the queen of munyus, the Luhya indigenous salt known as munyu kwa lukhaye.

The secret to the perfect Luhya dish lies in an intimate knowledge of munyu musherekha. Truth be said, seldom will a dish qualify as Luhya traditional delicacy sans cooking it with munyu. So quintessential is this lye to Luhya food. It is the one ingredient that you cannot afford to miss. This is to say that munyu is the one thing that if you master, you are set. But what is munyu musherekha? Munyu musherekha is a food grade lye derived from slow filtering water through ash of dried plant matter. It is a sure bet in making your Luhya food a delight.

Quick facts about munyu

How to make mushelekha

3 ways to tell good quality munyu mushelekha

Why munyu is so important to Luhya cuisine

Is munyu musherekha healthy?

Luhya recipes with munyu to try out

Quick facts about munyu mushelekha

• Omunyu Musherekha, depending on its use, can be an acquired taste. This is because too much munyu gives food a bitter alkaline taste. However some Luhya food aficionados, in particular those advanced in age, love it when the amount of munyu in food flirts with the thin lines between that which those with uncultured tounges may find as ‘too much’ and that which (even to us) is frankly unpalatable.
• Nonetheless, ‘too much munyu’ is a function of both the quantities added, and the strength of the lye. To guesstimate the strength of lye, dip a finger in the solution and taste.
• The more bitter on taste it is, the more potent the munyu. A strong alkaline taste denotes strong munyu musherekha; therefore caution is urged when using such lye in cooking.
• As a rule, the more fresh the batch, the more likely it is to be concentrated and thus stronger. Further, if the lye has been obtained by leaching the obtained fluid repeatedly over the ash, it becomes more potent with each refiltering.
• The ash used in making munyu musherekha is commonly: the dry maize cob, sundried peels of the plantain, sun-dried bean stalks with bean pods, sundried waste from harvesting simsim and sundried groundnut shells – kamakobolio. It is colloquially thought that the strength of lye increases down that scale.

How make munyu mushelekha

One simply needs to leach the lye by filtering water through a container filled with compacted ash. But there is a method to it. Check the video for a demonstration on how to properly leach munyu musherekha. Also refer to the list of instructions below for details on the process.

How to make munyu musherekha at home in 10 simple steps

• To get the ash buy maize cobs or bean pods from your local market and sun dry them. However, for reasons that only old respectable women know, munyu musherekha was ideally traditionally made only from plant waste generated within the home. Therefore, I usually save the peelings from plantains whenever we have a meal of katogo or matoke. I then sun dry them in batches, saving them until a critical mass is reached.
• Once paper dry, or readily inflammable, I lit up a fire using wood splits and burn up the plant material to ash. As it cools, I sprinkle some water on top. The wetness makes it easier to gather the ash. This method of gathering ash is also said to increase the potency.
• To make the apparatus needed to leach munyu mushelekha, one needs a container, preferably plastic, that has small perforations on its bottom.

How to get the Lye from the ash when making munyu

• We start by compacting the container with ash to somewhere between two thirds and half way full.
• As you compact, sprinkle bits of water onto the ash to drive out air and help hold the loose particles of ash together. Compacting with water results in a more ‘dense’ mass that yeilds a more concentrated munyu musherekha.
• You’ll need a receptacle for the container with ash to sit on. The receptacle is also needed for collecting the filtrate. This is where those old serving bowls came in handy.
• Once the ash is well compacted, gently pour some clean water into the container with compacted ash. Ensure you fill to the brim. At this point, one is likely to see air bubbles on the surface as the air escapes.
• Let the leaching apparatus sit to allow the water to be filter through the ash. Periodically, you can add on more water at the top until you get the amounts of munyu musherekha you need for your dish.

Storing munyu

• Munyu musherekha was traditionally made on the go. Personally, I have made batches before hand and stored them in the fridge. I am yet to notice any discernible difference in taste or potency. However, making munyu on the go offers one the option of altering its concentration. This can be achieved through compacting more ash, or by filtrating the fluid many times over. Making on the go is of great use when one needs strong lye. Situations like when one is cooking tough kienyeji chicken comes to mind.
• Discard the leached ash and start over once the potency of the ash decreases. To know if the potency has decreased dip your finger to taste. Alternatively, when the color of the munyu starts getting lighter in color, it may be time for a refresh.

3 ways to tell good quality munyu musherekha

How do you know if the munyu you have made at home is any good? Truthfully, the proof is the tasting. Nonetheless, there are a few things to look out for.

Color

Good munyu should be amber to darker shades of amber in color: single malt scotch to bourbon. (See post featured image of munyu in a glass bowl). A good starting point is that it shouldn’t look like water simply mixed wish ash. Nonetheless when starting out, the lye is likely to appear as such. However, re-filtering the fluid might help improve its appearance.

Appearance

Good munyu is free of ash debris as is possible. If the filtrate has particles or other remnants of the ash, it could mean that: Either the ash wasn’t well compacted; or the perforations at the bottom of the container are too large or unevenly distributed. As regards the container, you can always fashion another one. However, it is advisable to make one and stick to it. This is because with time the perforations do ‘sit in’ and do a better job.

Sniff test

You need to pick the tang of alkalinity when you take a whiff. It should also be more burnt than ashy.

Why munyu is so important to Luhya cuisine – What does it do to your food, that nothing else can?

By its own right, munyu musherekha improves the flavor of your dish by imparting a unique ‘smokey-like’ flavor. In addition, munyu adds depth of flavor to your stew.

Cooking vegetables with munyu musherekha

Cooking Luhya traditional vegetables like murere, indelema and mitoo is virtually impossible without munyu musherekha. You can’t also make the traditional Maragoli bean stew delicacy muduya without munyu.

Cooking poultry and meats with munyu musherekha

First, munyu tenderizes the meat. Further, when cooking poultry or other meats, munyu kills off any hint of rimisi (Lulogoli for that characteristic fishy smell of raw meat). This quality of munyu helps accentuates other favorable flavors of your chicken or meat. Be warned though that munyu should be used with caution when cooking delicate meats such as rabbit or goat. Personally, I never use munyu when cooking goat as it kills off the aroma which is why goat meat is worth anything.

Cooking fish with munyu musherekha

Nonetheless, for its ‘fishy-aroma’ dampening qualities, munyu is perfect for all types of fish. From Omena to Tilapia and Nile Perch, I always use munyu in my fish and it never disappointing.

Is munyu musherekha healthy?

Munyu is rich in potassium and low in sodium. Therefore when used as lye or when reduced to a salt, it offers a suitable substitute to common salt. Research has shown that the sodium levels of munyu musherekha are even lower than those of salts marketed as low-sodium.

Moreover, munyu is an excellent source of dietary potassium. The benefits of potassium to health are well established. The swahili saying “amekula chumvi nyingi” that means he/she is well into their senior years, is testament of the life prolonging health benefits of potassium rich traditional salts like munyu musherekha. Further, the U.S Department of Health & Human Services, NIH website sates:

Insufficient potassium intakes can increase blood pressure, kidney stone risk, bone turnover, urinary calcium excretion, and salt sensitivity (meaning that changes in sodium intakes affect blood pressure to a greater than normal extent).

NIH: Potassium – Health Professionals Fact Sheet

Luhya recipes to try out with Munyu musherekha

At the beginning of this post we promised a treat of simple Luhya recipes to try out your new knowledge on munyu musherekha. Indulge your creativity with any of the recipes below. They have been carefully selected so as to flesh out the nuances of cooking using munyu in different traditional Luhya dishes.