Unpretentious…

There is this simple, unpretentious stall with no decor or anything to boast about among the ones right across the road from Bandong Walk and the shops in the vicinity that I happened to stumble upon one fine day and there has been no turning back since then.

There is this quiet and pleasant Malay lady…

…manning that stall. These days, it looks like she has more for sale compared to before but I suspect she did not make everything herself – most of the things would probably have been made by people at home and left there for sale.

I do not remember what brought me there that day – perhaps all the other stalls were closed and I just stopped by to have a look. There were not many choices, just some curry puffs (3 for RM1.00)…

…potatoes…

…or sardine and of course, I bought the former. I’m not really into those sardine ones.

Actually, my girl loves these kampung Malay homemade curry puffs while personally, I was never crazy about them until I had this one. They turned out to be really nice so everytime we felt like having some, I would go back there and there alone.

I cannot remember now but it was probably back in the 80’s when these mini-donuts made the scene at the kampung kuih stalls. They were really very very nice, bursting with their buttery fragrance and taste and above all else, they were only 10 sen each, 10 for RM1.00! I do not get to see them all that much anymore but yes, this lady has those…

…at her stall but they are now 3 for RM1.00. Those good ol’ days when things were dirt cheap and so very nice are long gone now.

I bought some that day but I noticed that they were not so nicely shaped like before. Perhaps I caught the lady on a wrong day – some of them were so thick they looked like scones! Thankfully, they still tasted great, anytime better than those branded franchise ones that are so very sweet, so very fancifully colourful and not half as nice…

*Archive photo*

I also saw some basong…

…those old school conical shaped glutinous rice coated with grated coconut and sugar, one of my favourite Malay kuihs, also selling at 3 for RM1.00 and I could not resist buying some…

…to enjoy. They were good but I remember the ones I always bought from my regular Malay kuih stall among the shops across the road had an edge over these. When I shared a photograph of this on Facebook, everybody commented that it is impossible to buy these days – I guess they are not that easily available anymore. Perhaps the old folks have retired or passed away, nobody making them anymore…or the young ones are just not into such things, not at all.

If I am not wrong, this hardworking lady would also cook a few dishes for sale together with her nasi campur (mixed rice) come lunch time but I have never given hers a try so I can’t say whether it is any good or not.

This Malay kuih & food stall (2.313822, 111.825619) is located along Bandong Walk, Jalan Bandong in Kampung Nangka somewhere in the middle among the stalls on the left hand side if you are going towards the primary school there.