Putu Mayam with Biji Sawi in Little India

The Indian food, Putu Mayam is a snack eaten with fresh grated coconut and brown sugar or gula Melaka. It is also known as string hoppers and is eaten cold. This sticky noodle like snack is made with pressing the dough through a mould and steamed. It is a very popular snack and sold in many places. Most of us would have eaten it before.

Lately I was introduced by a friend to a stall in Little India that sells this traditional white delicacy together with the unusual brown ones. It is made with adapting the ingredient, biji sawi which many people claim to be healthier as it helps to regulate cholesterol and blood sugar level.

I got myself a few pieces of the white and brown ones. The sugar is wrapped in a banana leaf which does add some aroma to it. The putu mayam is eaten mixed with the grated coconut and brown sugar. I find the texture of the brown ones slightly coarse with the taste quite similar to the white ones.

The above packet of mixed Putu Mayam for RM1

The packet of biji sawi plus the grated coconut and brown sugar

You can buy this steamed delicacy from this Indian man selling from his ‘stall’ on his bicycle by the roadside of Market Street / Queen Street. He only starts selling from 5pm in the evening till night. There is another stall plying just next to him selling the same type of Putu Mayam. Click here for the Map Location.

This snack goes by many names, such as Putu Mayam and Putu Mayung. Although it is eaten as a sweet dish, many people have got to eating it with savory dishes such as curry and stew. Do try dipping the Putu Mayam in your curries too…you might like it.