The initiator of Omah Kelor, Murtijas Sulistijowati (yellow shirt), photographed with members and products of Omah Kelor

ITS Campus, ITS News – For some people, the pandemic has opened up new opportunities to create new activities. As what was done by housewives for Family Welfare Empowerment (PKK) RW 4 Keputih Urban Village, Surabaya. Located in the Lecturers’ Complex of the Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS), they founded Omah Kelor, a forum for sharing knowledge while producing various processed foods made from Moringa leaves.

Murtijas Sulistijowati, initiator and head of Omah Kelor, conveyed that this forum was her idea, which popped up during the pandemic era. Arising from the issue of boredom of housewives, she wanted to create an activity that could benefit local housewives. “If you just let it run, it feels like a missed opportunity. An activity must be made that is both fun and useful,” emphasized this woman who is familiarly called Momok.

Murtijas Sulistijowati, initiator of Omah Kelor with Omah Kelor food

Meanwhile, the activity that housewives enjoy the most, continued Momok, is cooking. Not just that, she also chose to utilize Moringa leaves for the basic material specifications. This decision is based on the information she got that states that Moringa leaves have a very high nutritional content. “Therefore, Omah Kelor is also a forum for sharing knowledge on how to process Moringa leaves so that their nutritional content is not lost,” she revealed.

Until now, this forum, which is centralized at Jl Ilmu Pasti Alam F6, ITS Housing, has produced a number of products such as Moringa tea, Moringa noodles, Moringa grilled rice, bothok kelor, martabak kelor, siomay kelor, pastel kelor, Moringa burgers and many more. The mentioned products have undergone taste tests and are marketed to a number of local residents. “At least the target market scale is ITS, so the consumption provided at ITS will be from Omah Kelor,” she hoped.

Some of the products are processed by Omah Kelor, such as Moringa pastels, Moringa noodles, Moringa dumplings, Moringa grilled rice, Moringa martabak, Moringa burgers, Moringa peanut brittle and many others.

As the first innovation in Surabaya, Omah Kelor is now one of the 250 best nominees in the Surabaya Smart City 250 event. Representing Kelurahan Keputih, Momok hopes that Omah Kelor will pass to the next stage, namely the 750 best nominations. “Alhamdulillah, we are also supported by several parties, such as the Keputih Village until Sukolilo District,” she mentioned, gratefully.

Since Omah Kelor is centralized at ITS Housing, continued Momok, it is also indirectly part of the ITS Campus. Therefore, this forum is also a parameter of the Smart City concept and the Smart Eco Campus program that ITS is currently implementing. “A form of assistance from ITS was the knowledge on the science of processing moringa from lecturers of the Faculty of Science and Data Analytics,” she concluded. (mad/ITS Public Relations)

Omah Kelor members when planting Moringa tree seeds on the ITS campus area