In my younger days, I look forward to the Muslim fasting month as I enjoy eating all kinds of food without restraint. During this season, all kinds of Malay delicacies are on sale in Ramadan bazaars across the country. I used to buy various kinds of kuih or Malay snacks from the stalls near my workplace. I like a few of their sweet cakes, like Kuih Koleh Hijau and Batang Buruk. I also like savouries like Chicken Rendang and Roti Jala.
Today, as age catches up, I need to practice some restraints and discipline in my choices of food. Whatever I enjoy, I will try my best to get the recipes and cook them at home. In that way, I can try to reduce the sugar or the oil to suit my personal taste. In fact, a Malay colleague of mine taught me how to cook Chicken Rendang when I was just 20 years old.
Years later another Chinese friend, a nurse in the small town of Bidor, taught me how to make Roti Jala. Those were the days without the internet or Google platform. So, I really treasure all who have shared their recipes with me. Today, we can easily learn new recipes from YouTube or Google. And I am still experimenting each week, trying out new treats for the family.
There are many types of rendang. Here is a Chicken Rendang recipe which I like from kuali.com. Instead of the cooking cream, I use fresh coconut milk or santan. This adds to the fragrance of the rendang. You can also try the Roti Jala recipe from here. Since this is served with curry or rendang which has a large amount of coconut milk in it, I would omit the coconut milk in my Roti Jala. I just use an equal amount of plain water. Making Roti Jala can be challenging as one needs to be quick and flexible with one’s wrist to make swirls of batter to form a net which gives this dish its name – Jala, meaning net.
If you enjoy food and are adventurous, do treat yourself to home-cooked rendang and roti jala. These two dishes are not only popular during Hari Raya but are also great for any occasions.
Mei Wong is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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