<i>Ramadan comes to keep muri makers too busy</i>
A woman prepares muri (puffed rice) at Mahamudpur village in Malanchi union under Pabna Sadar upazila. A large number of people in the union are now busy as the area, famous for production of the popular item especially during the Ramadan, supplies it to different towns including the capital. Photo: STAR
A good number of villages in Malanchi union in Sadar upazila are now busy preparing muri (puffed rice) as they supply a huge quantity of this common and popular iftar item to several districts during Ramadan every year. Around two dozen villages including Mahamudpur, Natunpara, Jhabjhabia, Shyampur, Bilkula, Gopinathpur, Gopinpur, Bhobanipur and Raghabpur are famous for making high quality muri. Over 200 families are involved in the trade in these villages. "This has been their profession for the past 20 years. People call these villages 'Muri Gram' (puffed rice villages)," said Abdus Subhan, a muri trader at Mahamudpur of Malanchi. Each kg muri is sold at Tk 50-70 in the villages. Traders procure the organic food and supply it to the capital and other district towns for consumption. "All muri traders who procure it from the villages get Tk 5 profit from each kg of the item," said Subhan. "The price is Tk 50-70 a kg depending on quality and that is quite fair", he added. According to Subhan, he alone supplies around 160 kg muri to Pabna markets everyday. "I produce 40 kg myself and the rest I collect from others. Fifty largest traders in these villages sell over 500 maunds of muri every day." As there is no chemical in the muri prepared here, health conscious people like them very much, he said. “We make muri in traditional method of mixing salt and water with rice. Then we sieve it in hot sand till it gets puffed,” said Sharifa Khatun, a muri maker of Malanchi. "The demand of our muri increases much in the month of Ramadan. So we are very busy. We work from dawn to dusk these days", she added. Like her, over 500 women of around 200 families are now busy preparing the crispy item in all the villages.
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