Flavour Guide on Penang Hawker Food: Samosas and Curry Puffs
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BY CK Lam
Penang is a hawker paradise with a huge variety of interesting street food stalls offering plenty of good and reasonably priced Chinese, Malay and Indian cuisine. I revel in the delights of hawker food, sold throughout the market area, neighbourhood stalls and the narrow back alleys of Penang.
Some of the stalls offer sitting areas while others have none, so you may have to eat while standing up – a bit of a challenge. However, it’s an even bigger challenge to decipher what goes into each dish and just where those flavours dancing on your palate stem from. This is where I can help.
SAMOSA
What it is: Savoury samosa & curry puffs are popular deep-fried snacks sold mainly at Indian and Malay street food stalls. They’re made out of dough cut into small pieces and stuffed with a savoury spicy filling. Fillings might vary slightly but most vendors have the vegetarian version filled with essentially spicy curry paste, potatoes and onions. The meaty version with chicken meat is also available. Samosas are normally triangular-shaped while curry puffs are crescent-shaped and tapered at the ends to keep the filling intact.
Deep-fried samosas make the perfect snack
How it’s cooked: Both of them are deep-fried to a golden brown and are not only tasty with a satisfying crunch but also reasonably cheap. They are commonly eaten as a snack or at tea time.
Where To Try:
A stall beside Kedai Makanan Veloo Vilas
George Town
Penang
Business Hour: 12pm till 5pm
Closed on Saturday and Sunday
Tip: The stall offers tempting samosas, curry puffs and susu lembu (fresh cow’s milk)
Tamil Street
A stall on the junction of Tamil Street and Penang Road
George Town
Penang
Business Hour: From 12noon till evening
Closed on Sunday
Tip: Besides samosas with sardine, chicken and potatoes filling, you can enjoy a varied selection of vadai or Indian ‘doughnut’ from this stall.
Penang Special Samosa
A stall on the junction of Queen Street and Market Street
George Town
Penang
Business Hour: 9am till late evenings
Closed on Sunday
Tip: There’s a variety of samosas here such as chicken, tuna, egg and vegetarian. Other Indian specialities here include pakoda, halwa and vadai.
* This is a reproduction of a part of my article published in TimeOut Penang guide 2014/15. The guide can be purchased at their website.