Roti canai (left) and roti telur (center) with a side order of kari ayam (chicken curry)
The smallest of Malaysia's 'Big 3', the Indians have had a disporportionately large impact on the culinary scene, with the mamak (Indian Muslim, see below) stall having acquired in every Malaysian city and town, and nasi kandar restaurants offering a wide variety of these to ladle onto your rice. Authentic Indian food in Malaysia includes typical South Indian specialties such as dosai, idli, sambhar, uttapam; as well as some north Indian meals like naan bread, korma, and tandoori chicken. In addition, however, a number of Indian dishes have been "Malaysianized" and adopted by the entire population, including:
Fish head curry is, true to the name, a gigantic curried fish head cooked whole until it's ready to fall apart. The head itself is not eaten, as there's plenty of meat to be found inside and all around. Note that there are two distinct styles, the fiery Indian and the milder Chinese kind (the latter is sometimes served as a broth for vermicelli noodles).
"Mamak-style" mee goreng is a ubiquitous dish found at mamak stalls, a stir-fried noodle dish loved by Malaysians.
Nasi briyani (sometimes spelled nasi beriani) is assembled by layering the flavorful rice with tender pieces of spiced-cooked lamb, mutton or chicken. At nasi kandar restaurants, it refers to rice that is cooked without the meat, and is merely a choice of rice [instead of plain steamed rice] to eat with your selection of curries and side dishes.
Roti canai is the Malaysian adaptation of the South Indian parotta, flat bread tossed in the air like pizza, fried in oil, and eaten dipped in curry. Eaten plain with sides of dal gravy, curry sauce or both, it is usually dubbed "roti kosong". Variations include include roti telur (with egg) and murtabak (stuffed with chicken, mutton or fish), roti boom (with condensed milk) and roti tisu (made very thin like tissue paper, and laced with caramelized sugar).
Putu mayam is composed of vermicelli-like rice noodles usually mixed with shredded coconut and some jaggery.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Malaysia
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Malaysia - updated Apr 2024
SAVE up to 75% on Last Minute deals! Search for discount Malaysia hotels, motels, apartments, hostels, guest accommodations and vacation resorts. Book now and pay at the hotel. Instant email confirmation!
Malaysia Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
