How to make munyu musherekha from kamasokoro (maize cobs or corn cobs).
Growing up, back in the days when the village gave us everything that we needed thus saving us from today’s reality of hunting in the concrete jungle that are the cities of today, a simple life it was. Fulfilling to say the least. Fetching water from the river, masters at khukhwitungelesia we were. Balancing pots, buckets and firewood on our heads.
The hard knuckles dished out by this life taught me some unforgettable but unwritten life lessons. Of which the importance of man discovering fire ranks top. You need that source of energy to get anything going.
There were good days: days when it was hot and dry and firewood was everywhere. Then, the bad days: when we had to do with what was about – preparing meals with anything we laid our hands on.
The simplicity of life in the village – cooking with kamasokoro
Speaking of which, I’m fondly reminded of the December holiday breaks. These holidays were full of hard work that alternated with parties and merry making of the season. The hard bit, for example, consisted of tasks such as harvesting simsim. The pain of patiently drying this ingredient that’s quintessential to Luhya cuisine, before thrashing and keeping it safe to sell when the price was right is untold.
Beyond that, there were the other do’s, like harvesting the second crop of maize and doing it justice. Justice here demanded that we ensure all maize cobs are well stored in the store outside. These dry maize cobs, left as a byproduct of taking care of the maize, would then be our sole source of energy to cook with for days coming.
That said, there were ground rules when cooking with kamasokoro or bisokoro (maize cobs). The rules were deigned to preserve the ashes begotten from cooking with masogoro for making munyu.
These non-negotiable instructions ensured that we had munyu musherekha from kamasokoro enough to last us through out the coming year. And as you would imagine, mum was ready with her lukhendu for anyone who dared break the rules. This is because breaking the rules occasioned her the possibility of embarrassment from borrowing munyu from her neighbors.
Today, I share with you these rules of making munyu musherekha from kamasokoro.
How to make munyu musherekha from kamasokoro
Time needed: 2 hours
This method works best when cooking using the traditional three stone fireplace. However, more modern methods such as the clay and brick modern take on the traditional fireplace or a simple jiko (charcoal burner) also serve well.
- Dry your maize cobs
Even though the cobs dry as you dry your maize, exposing the maize cobs to the sun for a couple of hours before cooking with them does a lot of good. Dry maize cobs burn well once they catch fire producing bearable amounts of smoke. At minimum, you require at least two gorogoros of dry maize cob to yield ash good enough for a liter of concentrated munyu.
- Cleaning the fireplace or jiko.
For you first batch, ensure all ashes from cooking with other wood are removed from the fireplace. For subsequent batches, collect all the ash from kamasokoro every morning before you begin cooking.
- Starting the fire
Use few sticks or flints to light the fire. Better still, use dry ears or husk of corn to get your fire going. Do not use paraffin to speed up the process as this may leave behind an unpalatable taste from the fumes of the burning kerosene. Also, avoid using paper, especially printed paper, to keep your ashes pure from chemicals. More importantly, when cooking with kamasokoro to make ashes for munyu, do not mix firewood and maize cobs. Use maize cobs only however smokey the affair might get.
- Collecting and the munyu musherekha from kamasokoro
Wait for the ashes to cool before handling. It is best to use an piece of an old broken pot to collect the ashes.
- Storing munyu musherekha
All the ashes for making munyu mukhelekha ashes should be kept in a cool dry place, preferably in an old storage pot situated in a corner somewhere in the kitchen. This storage pot must always be covered with a lid at all times to protect the ash from pests and contamination. More importantly, the ash should be kept paper dry thus never pour water or any other liquid inside the ashes storage pot.
Variation in method to yield more patent munyu musherekha
I used to see my grandmother sprinkle some water on the hot ashes to aid with the cooling down. Sprinkle, I must emphasize, as too much water will cause the goodness to leech out of the ashes. She would then pat the damp ashes to pack them tightly. This she said helped make storage easier as ashes are bulky. Moreover, as the ash was more compact, more of it could be used as substrate thus making the munyu musherekha more potent.
Learn more about munyu mushelekha
- How to make munyu kwa lukhaye – the traditional Luhya salt guaranteed to make your kienyeji chicken a star dish
- Everything munyu musherekha: 10 simple steps make the perfect munyu, How to wow cooking healthy with mushelekha, easy Luhya recipes to try out
- 6 tips how to use munyu mukhelekha
- The 4 secrets of using munyu mukhelekha: Luhya cooking tradition in a blogpost! All that I’ve learned from my mother and grandmother
- How to make munyu musherekha from kamasokoro (maize cobs or corn cobs) – The easy, no effort method perfected during my simple Luhya upbringing
- Trouble finding munyu in the city? Want no more! Results of A/B test, karai vs jiko, burning dry plant matter into ash for munyu musherekha