Murni’s Mee Raja Special in Tom Yam Flavour. The name is derived from the Chinese ’emperor noodles’ used. If you patronise Murni’s at night, you probably have not seen this dish in all its glory. The roadside dining area can be really dark, especially when the street lights fail. This was photographed at night at Murni Discovery Aman Suria with Litepanels lights.
Olympus OM-D, ISO 500, f3.5, 1/60 sec.
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.
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.
