Malay cuisine

Food is eaten delicately with the fingers of the right hand, never with the left which is used for personal ablutions, and Malays rarely use utensils.

[3] The most important legacy of Malacca derived from its involvement in the spice trade, its openness to the ingredients and culinary techniques introduced by foreigners notably the Arabs, Persians, Chinese and Indians and its cultivation of a rich eclectic gastronomy.

Malacca was also a catalyst for the development of two other rich and unique culinary cultures which are the fusion of Malay with Chinese and European traditions, cuisines respectively known as Nyonya and Eurasian.

In Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and outside the Malay Archipelago (such as Sri Lanka and South Africa) however, the term "Malay cuisine" often takes a broader scope, which includes the culinary traditions of other neighbouring common Austronesian peoples, often including Minangkabaus, Javanese and Bugis, or even their fusion derivatives.

Nasi lemak, rice cooked in rich coconut milk, is probably the most popular dish, ubiquitous in Malay towns and villages.

Various meats and vegetables could be made into gulai or kari, a type of curry dish with variations of spice mixtures that display an Indian influence long present in Malay cuisine.

The recipe originates from the Dutch East India Company colonies in Batavia, with the name derived from the Indonesian bobotok.

[8] In Malay food preparation, the ingredients used are often described as spicy and flavorful as it is a melting pot of spices, herbs and roots.

Strong, tangy and flavorful fresh herbs, spices and ingredients such as serai (lemongrass), pandan (screwpine), kemangi (a type of basil), kesum (polygonum), buah pala (nutmeg), kunyit (turmeric) and bunga kantan (wild ginger buds), biji sawi (mustard seeds) and halba (fenugreek) are often used.

Vegetables are diced on a landas (wooden cutting board); while a coconut scraper or kukur niyur is indispensable in making both curries and sweets.

[11] Tumis (using a small amount of oil or fat in a shallow pan over relatively high heat), salai (food smoked or grilled with the ingredients often cut into pieces or thinly sliced to facilitate fast cooking), sangai (food, mainly dried spices, fried without oil), and layur (warmed over low heat to dry) are examples of terms for dry-heat cooking methods.

[13] Among the few dishes peculiar to Brunei is ambuyat, a sticky ball of flavourless sago starch, which is wrapped around a bamboo fork and dipped into a spicy and sour gravy.

Nasi katok, which literally means "knock rice", is a popular meal which consists of plain rice, fried chicken and sambal, a spicy relish made from ground chilli peppers and a variety of secondary ingredients including but not limited to shrimp paste, garlic, ginger, shallot, scallion, palm sugar, lime juice, vinegar and anchovies.

Other Malay Indonesian dishes include acar, amplang, ayam goreng, ayam pansuh, ayam penyet, ayam percik, begedil, bihun goreng, bobotok, bubur asyura, bubur cha cha, bubur lambuk, bubur pedas, cincalok, epok-epok, various gulai, ikan bakar, various ikan patin dishes, kangkung belacan, kemplang, ketupat, kwetiau goreng, various laksa, lepat, lontong, martabak, mi celor, mi goreng, mi kari, mi rebus, nasi ambeng, nasi briyani, various nasi goreng, nasi kari, nasi kebuli, pekasam, rojak, roti jala, roti john, roti tisu, sambal sotong, samosa, satay, sayur lodeh, various siput gonggong dishes, soto, soto mi, sup ikan, sup kambing, sup rusa, tauhu goreng, tekwan, terang bulan and ulam.

The drink sirap bandung consists of evaporated or condensed milk flavoured with rose syrup, giving it a pink colour.

To prepare it, mutton chunks are marinated overnight in fried onions, chillies, garlic, curry leaves and tamarind juice, then threaded on skewers and either pan-fried or grilled.

[20] Other Cape Malay dishes include biryani, boeber, chutney, falooda, frikkadel, koesister, roti, sambals, samoosa and tomato bredie.

Achcharu is a dish that originates from the local Malay community and is now widely popular among all ethnic groups in the country.

[24][25][26] Other Sri Lankan Malay dishes include varieties of curry, ekor sop, kalu dodol, sambals and watalappam.