If you fancy enjoying murtabak at home, minus the mess of kneading dough, use ready-made spring roll pastry to make a miniature version with egg - murtabak telur mini.
This is a tip I learnt from the Malay food stall operator in my office canteen.
He used to sell little irresistible pan-fried parcels of ground meat wrapped in crispy popiah skin.
He seasoned the meat with a little salt, pepper, tomato ketchup and mayonnaise. The main ingredients were ground beef or chicken, onion and egg.
For my version, I use beef for the filling. My regular beef seller recommends chuck tender, which is suitable for this recipe.
Spices not only add flavour to the beef filling, but also stave off any strong meaty odours. A convenient solution is Baba's Kurma Mix, an aromatic blend of spices including coriander, fennel, cloves and cardamom.
It goes without saying that these crispy parcels taste best when freshly fried. But if you cannot finish them all at once, place them in the toaster to heat them up before digging in.
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MURTABAK TELUR MINIINGREDIENTS
2 Tbs cooking oil
30g garlic, minced
1 red onion (150g), chopped
300g ground beef
1 Tbs kurma mix powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
¼ tsp chilli powder
1 tsp salt
30g spring onion, sliced
2 green finger chillies, sliced
100g peas
4 medium eggs (220g)
2 Tbs tomato ketchup
1 Tbs mayonnaise
¼ tsp salt
10 pieces of spring roll skin (215mm x 215mm)
300ml cooking oil
METHOD
1. Heat cooking oil in a pan and fry garlic for 30 seconds, then add chopped onion. Fry for a minute.
2. Add ground beef and stir-fry for 30 seconds.
3. Add kurma mix powder, turmeric powder and chilli powder. Fry for two minutes.
4. Season with one teaspoon of salt and fry for another 30 seconds or until the beef is cooked through.
5. Remove the beef from the pan and allow it to cool to room temperature.
6. In a bowl, place sliced spring onion, sliced green finger chillies, ground beef peas and four eggs.
7. Add tomato ketchup and mayonnaise and season with ¼ teaspoon of salt. Mix well.
8. Take a piece of spring roll pastry and place on a clean work surface.
9. Take two tablespoons of the beef and egg mixture and place in the centre of the pastry. Take one corner of the pastry and fold towards the centre.
10. Do the same with the other corners, folding the pastry to cover the filling and form a meat parcel.
11. Heat 300ml of oil in a deep-frying pan.
12. Over medium heat, gently place the meat parcel into the oil. Fry for two to three minutes and turn over.
13. Fry for another two minutes or until the pastry is cooked to a golden brown.
14. Fry three to four parcels at a time.
15. Place the fried meat parcels on kitchen paper to drain off the excess oil.
16. Serve immediately.
Makes 10 pieces of murtabak telur mini
