Munyu mukhelekha is a must have ingredient in every Luyha kitchen. More often than not, in a traditional Luhya kitechen, you will find an old bowl or broken pot that has has seen better days being used to collect munyu by leeching ashes from certain dry plant matter. Luhya people refer to soup as kumunyu. Munyu mukhelekha translates to filtrated/leeched soup. Learn how to use munyu mukhelekha and get the soup and your dish just right
First, it’s all about the food one is cooking
When one decides to use munyu in their meals, the quantities used will depend on what is being prepared. For example if you wish to use munyu in your beef stew, one may require just 30 mls of freshly prepared munyu. On the other hand if one was to prepare a meal of likhubi (mature cowpeas leaves), you may require 100 mls of freshly prepared munyu to soften it all up before frying or adding cream or simsim butter to it. Luhya traditional foods like kivambala, muduya and enyama esike require a fair amount of more than usual amounts of munyu for them to turn out right.
Then its about how good the munyu is
When you want to use munyu made from different ashes, one has to be alert at all times. Maize cobs produce the most lethal munyu south of the Sahara. Let me tell you, if one is not keen when using this munyu, they can ruin the entire meal.
Munyu from other sources like banana peels, groundnut kernels, simsim pods etc., are a little bit forgiving. Munyu from groundnut husks is my all time favorite. It comes across as well balanced. It also gives your food that special kick (mwayo, Maragoli Language).
When using munyu from these various sources, the quantities will vary. Munyu being filtered from ashes for the second or third time will be less concentrated. One will therefore require more quantities when preparing food with this munyu.
But, your personal preference counts lots
Different people have different preferences of how their dishes are to be prepared with munyu. My Maragoli darlings for example like thier foods prepared with generous portions of munyu. They like thier meals properly punctuated with munyu. They fondly refer to meals with that striking munyu as munyu bhe!bhe!bhe!
The Bukusu on the other hand fear munyu. We use munyu sparingly. We abhor meals prepared with concentrated munyu. They have a phrase for this. Nanjala alungile chinyenyi kumunyu kwomile emoni pie! pie! pie! Translated as Nanjala had cooked vegetables with concentrated munyu hot hot hot.
Also, the amount of food being prepared
This goes without say. The more food one is preparing, the more munyu they will require. If one is preparing say one fish stew with freshly prepared munyu from maize cob ashes, they may require just less than 30 mls of munyu. If they were to prepare say a fish stew using five pieces of fish with same munyu, they may require 70-100 mls of munyu to overcome that fishy smell (likhe, Bukusu Language), that many can’t stand.
Remember to time it perfectly
Munyu mukhelekha can be used before or after frying your food depending on the status of the meat or vegetables. When cooking kienyeji chicken, for example, one may be able to tell how tough the engoko is as they dress it. If it’s tough, one may want to use a little munyu when boiling it to help tenderize it.
When one uses munyu to cook traditional vegetables like miroo, cowpeas leaves (kunde), lisebebe and mrenda it is used during the boil before frying the vegetables.
When one uses munyu to prepare stews like beef, chicken and fish, munyu can be used before frying the chicken and beef to tenderize it. They can also use munyu after frying the meat to bring the good mwayo that brings forth the spirit of mulembe.
Whichever way, the best prepared meals that have munyu added should be allowed to cook properly. Cooking the munyu through may take not less than 20 minutes on medium heat. Water/milk may be added to the meals for one to get that well cooked and thick broth.
Finally, do mind the type of munyu you are using
When using munyu kwa lukhaye, often a pinch to nothing more than a teaspoon is enough.