When Amrita Madhukalya asked Chef Muhammad Hajral Bin of the Kuala Lumpur Shangri-La to dissect Malay fare, he said it combines the best of south Asian cuisine
The varied flavours of South Asian food are best found in a Malay meal. Nestled between a host of good food nations, and with a variety of vegetables available, the Malay palate is an eclectic assortment of flavours. The cuisine imbibes inputs from the host of communities that live in the country. Chef Muhammad Hajral Bin of the Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur, who was in Delhi to host a Malay food festival last week, says you can expect a combination of fried rice and sambar in an all-Malay meal.
What influences does Malaysian cuisine have?
We're a multi-cultural population, and so, we adopt from all the communities that live here — Chinese, Malay, Indian. As Malaysians, we don't have a particular food or dish to call our own — one that is truly Malaysian. What we do instead, is blend the flavours of all of these cuisines.
What is at the core of Malay food?
Some of the prominent ingredients we use are lemongrass, shrimp paste (called belacan), coconut, tamarind, coconut milk, chillies and a lot of sauces. We are also big rice-eaters and devour curries.
What goes into a typical Malay curry?
Since we are neighbours with Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, we use similar vegetables in our curries. We use carrots, beans, potatoes, garlic, choy sum, galangal, bok choi, lotus roots, celery, different types of cabbage, yam, tapioca, mushrooms and amaranth. The meats that go into our curries are beef, lamb meat, sea food like shrimp, prawn, crab, squid, salmon, cod, cuttlefish, snails, cucumber, octopus, etc.
Are there any similarities with Indian food?
Malay food is similar to South Indian food. One of the staple Malay curries is akin to the sambar — we call it dal-sambar. And we too eat it with rice. Then there's roti cenai, a pan fried flatbread made of wheat flour, which is similar to the south Indian roti. Tomato onion chutney, coconut chutney, pudina chutney, are also quite popular. Dosas and idlis too.
What does an average Malaysian family eat during the day?
Our national food is nashilama, which is flavoured coconut rice with a lot of vegetables and meat. We eat that with sambar. This is mostly consumed in the mornings. For lunch, nashi champo — rice with a variety of curries — is quite popular.
What is one of the most popular items that you cook in Kuala Lumpur?
The Rendang Tok — a dried beef stew with spices and grated coconut. If we prepare it for lunch, it usually gets sold out.
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Chef Muhammad Hajral Bin's Chicken satay recipe
Ingredients for marination
- 3 red onions, 1 inch ginger, 2 lemongrass stalks, cooking oil, 2 tbsp coriander powder, 1 tbsp cumin powder, 1 tbsp turmeric powder, 3 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp salt, 500 gms chicken breast cut into small cubes.
- Bamboo skewers soaked in water to prevent burning
Preparation
- Blend the red onions, ginger, lemon grass and combine the spices. Then add other ingredients.
- Marinate the meat in this mixture for at least two hours or leave it overnight in the fridge.
- Skewer the meat on the bamboo skewers. Don't pack the meat too closely, as this will enable the satay to cook quickly and evenly
- For the best flavour, cook this over a charcoal grill. Alternatively, you can just grill it in the oven or on a griddle pan.
- Baste the satay with a stalk of lemongrass that has been bashed to resemble a brush, and
oil while grilling.
amrita.madhukalya@dnaindia.net, @visually_kei
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