Hed Chef: Murtabak telur mini

If you fancy enjoying murtabak (also known as martabak in Indonesia) 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 at my office canteen.

He used to sell little 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 chose beef and added a mix of ingredients to stave off any strong meaty odours.

My regular beef seller recommended chuck tender, which is suitable for this cooking method.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 30g garlic, minced
• 1 red onion (150g), chopped
• 300g ground beef
• 1 tbsp 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 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 1 tbsp 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 2 minutes.

4. Season with 1 teaspoon of salt and fry for another 30 seconds or until beef is cooked through.

5. Remove 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 a ¼ teaspoon of salt. Mix well.

8. Take a piece of spring roll pastry and place on a clean work surface.

9. Take 2 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 a meat parcel into the oil. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes and turn over.

13. Fry for another 2 minutes or until the pastry is cooked to a golden brown.

14. Fry three parcels at a time.

15. Place the fried meat parcels on kitchen paper to drain off excess oil before serving.