Murir moa/ Puffed rice balls/ murmura ladoo

Murir moa is a preparation every Bengali is aware of. It is a healthy snacking option with jaggery being used rather than sugar. In earlier days Narkel naru and murir moa were served to the guests on arrival. But these days they are mostly served to God as prasad. With Lakshmi puja around the corner, I thought of preparing these moas for our home as well as uploading this recipe for you. However, just a few days back I came to know that Tamil Nadu also has puffed rice balls in their traditional cuisine which is known as Pori Urundai.

While rest of India celebrates Lakshmi Puja on the day of Diwali, in West Bengal this puja is celebrated on Kojagori Purnima. So, I am sure most of you must have started your preparations for Lakshmi puja. You can prepare these moas for the puja, and enjoy them with your family.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Indian

Preparation time: 5 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Servings: 30 pieces

Ingredients

• 200g of puffed rice/ muri/ murmura
• 600g of sugarcane jaggery
• 2 cups of water

Directions

1. Take 2 cups of water and add the jaggery. Let the jaggery melt.
2. Now pass the jaggery through a sieve. This is because jaggery often contains many impurities like sand and remains of sugarcane.
3. Put the jaggery back to flame and continue evaporating the water till you reach two thread consistency.
4. Add all the muri/puffed rice to the jaggery and mix well.
5. Turn off the flame and transfer it to another container. This stops the cooking/concentrating of the jaggery.
6. Start making balls while it is still hot.
7. The jaggery cools down fast making it difficult to make balls.
8. You can add little water to your palms to make the balls.
9. Once the balls are made, you can store them in air tight container for few weeks

Notes

1. If the muri/puffed rice are not crisp enough, you can dry roast them in a pan.
2. If the jaggery is too watery, the muri/puffed rice will not come together to form balls.
3. If the jaggery is too thick, they will also not stay together and will form sugar coated dry muri.
4. While making the balls if the muri cools down, warm it again a bit and start preparing balls.