Moko’s previous comment and Ai’s previous blog inspired me to write about today’s topic when they mentioned about their  memories of what their mother & grandmother cooked. Thank you Moko & Ai for the inspiration for today.

It just brings me back to the family kitchen smelling all the freshly made savouries & desserts they usually make for orders or for family functions or for selling. When my grandmother was still strong and able, aside from weaving baskets and floor mats, she would be busy making Malay savouries with my mom. A trait my mom learned from her. As you grow older you learn to appreciate these desserts and when I do go home to visit my family I JUST LOVE smelling it from my mom’s kitchen as she makes them fresh in the morning or in the afternoon. If you ask me what are my favorite desserts / savouries ..they are as follow :-

Kelupis and Pulut Panggang

Kelupis

Pulut Panggang

These are glutinous rice filled with either sweet coconut, chilli shrimps or curried beef that has been steamed for 2 hours. They are wrapped in either banana leaves which we would call as or nipah leaves. I would only eat them when its fresh from the steamer because thats when its absolutely delicious to eat. For the Pulut Panggang, you just grill it on a pan to give that smoky and charred taste of the glutinous rice which is really delicious too!

Calak

This is a corn dessert, deep fried in oil in its special made shaped mould which is not light at all. Its very heavy to lift ..well for me it is heavy This is another one of my favorites when eaten fresh from its fryer. My mom makes a batter with flour, mixed with water, the corn and sugar and some essence if you’d like. I love it when she mixes it with durian essence.

Serimuka

This is SO delicious whether served hot or cold. Its a dessert made from glutinous rice (bottom) and the top layer is a green layer is a mix of rice flour, coconut milk and pandan juice or essence for flavour.

Ardam

Its the one on the left in brown. I prefer this than Cincin (Ring) which is the one in orangey-red in color. Its made of ‘Gulanau’ (a thick brown palm syrup) mixed with rice flour.

Penyaram

This cute fluffy looking dessert is also made of Gulanau mixed with rice flour and water.

Kuya  – my MOST favorite!

Unfortunately I could not find a photo of this sweet soft favorite of mine and I just cant remember how my mom makes it but I do know this does not require baking or frying nor steam. All you need is one VERY HOT SUNNY day and have it baked out in the sun, the hotter it is the better!

Bingka Susu

Translated as Milk Pudding. When this is made and its baked, the sweet aroma completely engulfs the whole house and there is no way you can resist not having these! This is made with but you can also make Corn Pudding, Pumpkin Pudding, Durian Pudding *drools* and others but Milk Pudding has to be one of my favorite aside from Durian Pudding Oh did I mention I love DURIAN!! Them sweet smelling yet pongy custardy babies!

And the list goes on and on ..but I’ll just mention some of my many favorites!

Note :

All the photos that you see posted here are none of mine. I found them on random through google search and I only wish to use them for the purpose of sharing with my readers how the desserts / savouries  look like. Thank you to the Photographers or Contributors of these photos found at their sites.

What reminds you of your childhood days? I am sure there are MANY that you would list out. So Ive added this category ‘A Walk Down Memory Lane’ to list down what thing, smell, toy, tv shows, music, books, events that brings fond memories and not so fond memories of my childhood. Today would be

COCONUT OIL

Coconut oil, you ask? Why coconut oil ?

My Coconut Oil made by my mom

I grew up using coconut oil all my life. Since I was a little girl, its  been applied it to my hair, massaged onto my scalp with, combed religiously at night by my grandmother. Both my grandmother and my mother do not believe in buying ready made coconut oil from the dry markets or supermarkets. Never ..they’ll cluck in disagreement and insist to make the real deal for you at home even if its quite a mundane task to do. Nevertheless I am thankful because you cant beat the real stuff made from your mother’s kitchen.

My grandmother always make it as an evening ritual for us, her granddaughters, that every night she would apply lots of coconut oil on to our hair, she’ll massage our scalp without complaining and comb our hair (curly or straight) to get rid of the kinks and knots before plaiting our hair. Thats the ritual every evening! Next day if we’re in a rush to get ready for school, we wont have the time to wash our hair and would go to school with coconut oil  scent. My mom would style my hair into pigtails or plaits or a big bushy Ruroni Kenshin ponytail but worse .. Princess Leia’s double croissant buns! As a kid, it doesnt matter at that time but as I turned 10 years old I did feel conscious about it ^_^ I used to not look forward to coconut oil time by then but as I grew older, I am thankful with my grandmother and for what she had done for me. If it had not been for her, I wouldnt be blessed growing up with thick hair. I still continue that tradition till today. I remember how my neighbour (who took care of me when I was little) would always coo with admiration at my hair when she combs it, ‘Your hair is so thick and you’re so skinny.’ Well now when she last saw me she still coos at me, ‘Your hair is still quite thick but you’ve filled up a bit now.’  Well cant be skinny for the rest of my life, can i ?

I love the smell of coconut oil whether its being used to massage my body, my scalp or as a hair treatment.

So what invoked this memory ? I always treat my hair twice a week with coconut oil and so yesterday I was applying it generously on my hair and on my scalp, massaging it gently. Normally I would apply it at night and sleep with it overnight but since married, I don’t do that anymore, my poor husband cant take the smell ^_~ . 5 hours after that I would wash and rinse my hair twice before putting on my favorite conditioner. As always my hair felt soft and just blow drying it, I can see the effects of it.  When I go out I prefer to blow dry my hair into straight but wavy style (its difficult to explain but I’m sure you know what I mean). I can never successfully do it poker straight, not with a low voltage hairdryer. What happen to my curls?  Its still there, when I wash my hair, the curls sproings back into its natural state. Today my hair is still soft, non-frizzy and well-behaved

Thanks  Mama (our affectionate name for our grandmother)

From your ever so grateful and appreciative granddaughter

So did anything today or yesterday made you remember about your childhood ?