Malaysians rely heavily on their spices to make their food flavourful, much like Indians. One of the special things about Malaysian cuisine is that it is inspired by Indian and Chinese cuisines. However, what makes the food unique is the cooking technique we’ve adopted.
Malays enjoy cooking with fresh ingredients — we use lots of fresh seafood and vegetables in our cooking. The preference is also to retain the raw flavours of the ingredients, which helps add a new dimension to the cuisine. Rice, too, is integral to Malaysians; it is held as a sentiment among many folks that if there is no rice, there is no life.
Chilli, lemon, turmeric powder, lemongrass, turmeric leaf, galangal, coconut milk and kaffir leaf form the spice base for most Malay dishes. Pickled fish and prawn paste are also staples in Malaysian homes, which are then used as marinade or as an ingredient for cooking other dishes. Unsurprisingly, we use fresh coconut milk as our base for gravies, coconuts are abundantly available in Malaysia and they are integral to our cooking. Sambal, the chilli paste, is used in our cooking. In fact, every home has its own recipe to prepare this. Our cuisine has a lot of dishes that use broth made using lemon, lemongrass, turmeric leaf and seafood.
Chicken rendang (chicken cooked in coconut milk gravy with spices), ikan assam pedas (fish cooked in tamarind and chili paste), nasi lemak (fragrant rice dish cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaf) and mee goreng (fried noodles, a street food specialty) are just a few signature dishes that the country has to offer. However, a personal favourite is the oxtail assam pedas (oxtail cooked in tamarind and chilli paste) is a signature dish that I cook, when we have the Royal family visiting us or the Ministers’ visit at the banquets, they always request that I cook this dish for them.
As I made my way to Mumbai to host a food festival, I looked forward to showcase the vibrant culinary heritage of Malaysia to the people of Mumbai. The menu I curated for the festival is full of dishes you would find in Malay homes. The ingredients are fresh and locally produced. However, I did carry some of my own spices from back home, to ensure that the dishes had that authenticity. My effort has always been to ensure that maximum people try Malaysian cuisine and understand that while the ingredients are the same as Chinese or Indian food.
Chef Taripin bin Osip is from Kaula Penyu, a coastal town in the interior division of Sabah in Malaysia. The chef is helming the Malaysian Food Festival at Glasshouse, Hyatt Regency, Mumbai
Ayam Rendang (Chicken cooked in spices & coconut milk)
Ingredients:
500 gm bite-sized chicken pieces
1-cup thick coconut milk
30 gm palm sugar
1 crushed galangal
3 lemongrass
4 kaffir leaves
10 gm turmeric powder
20 gm red chilly paste
15 gm cashewnut
10 gm mix spices
40 gm cnion, garlic and ginger paste
10 gm grated coconut, browned
Method:
Cut chicken into small pieces and keep aside.
Heat up the pan. Sauté onion, garlic and ginger paste in it.
Put in all the dry ingredients to it and cook it.
Now add palm sugar, coconut milk and season the gravy.
Wait till the oil comes on top of the chicken gravy. Next, add grated coconut to it.
Serve hot with steam rice and pickled vegetables.
