Tag Archives: indian food

Putu Mayam

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Putu Mayam is hard to photograph not because it is mostly white. The aroma of the golden brown sugar and grated coconut fluffs makes you want to drop the camera and eat it.

The South Indian (Tamil) delicacy comes in many flavours but generally the vermicelli-like strings are made from rice flour and coconut milk. In this popular street version, the dish is topped with date palm sugar and shredded coconut. I bought this from a pasar malam (night market) stall for RM 1.80 (about US 60 cents).

Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f5.6, 1/60 sec.

Putu Mayam

Dreamy Supper

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While many were sleeping, party people from the now defunct 11 L.A. Disco used to cross the river for this dream supper at 4 am. It was the original and the best “Roti Banjir Special” (Flooded Indian Pancake) in the business

Two soft-boiled eggs hovering gently over a shredded piece of roti canai (flour pancake) flooded with dahl (lentil bean stew) and topped off with a dash of spicy sambal (chilli condiment).

Always consistent, the eggs were perfect with the smooth whites tasting like custard and the runny yolk was delicately encased until you spill it to fuse with the rest. Heavenly!

The cooks I used to know have retired and gone back to India. The stall is still there though, popular as ever. They still serve the same Roti Banjir Special. Give it a try when you are shopping at the Midnight Pasar Ramadan in that area.

Mansion Tea House is at Selangor Mansion Flats, Jalan Bunus, off Jalan Masjid India.

Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f1.4, 1/80 sec.

Dreamy Supper - Roti Banjir Special

The Indian Donut

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What I affectionately call the Indian Donut is actually the tasty vadai. It is pronounced wahdey, although many Malaysians call it vadek.

Traditionally a festive and breakfast serving, the savoury vegetarian snack from South India is usually sold in two versions locally. The thosai vadai with the hole in the centre and the lentil or dal vadai with the crispy, beany taste.

I photographed this scene at a night market while chatting with the cook as he fried the vadai in a giant wok. In between scooping up the fritters, he proudly proclaimed his most famous customer to be national soccer coach K. Rajagopal.

Although the vadek and curry puffs are very good, the coach may have chosen it for a practical reason. This stall is at the pasar malam located next to his office in the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) headquarters.

Which is your favourite of the two types? I like both.

Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f5.6, 1/80 sec.

The Indian Donut