Roti Canai!!

I can’t believe my eyes when I saw the hot griddle plate for cooking roti canai before me. Yes, there are other stalls selling roti canai around Auckland but it’s not like the ones you see at mamak stalls back in KL. They usually have it pre-made or frozen. You also don’t get to see them flip it in the air to stretch it apart. So I was really hyped up with this Malaysian stall within a food court in Manukau City. When I told the man that I am going to take pics and write about the roti in my blog, he got all ready and even striked a pose!

 

His name is Sugumaran and he’s been in Auckland with his wife Kala for about 6 months now. They’ve been working at this stall for about 2 months for his big boss whom we met later on; Aaron. This stall is brand new (2 months-ish) and with modern vibrant signage. Exciting. Sugu’s been a chef for the past 20 years and is from Teluk Intan, Perak. Wow, you flip it so well Sugu! Auckland definitely needs to experience the roti in a Malaysian way. After 3 years in NZ, I am really glad for this day.

The chicken curry that accompanied it is 100% authentic. Sedap giler! Jeff had a smile plastered on his face as well. We also ordered mamak mee goreng (fried noodles) and that was superb as well. But I have to admit that I was left feeling parched all night after that and suspected MSG in the food. I found out that my body reacts to MSG that way in the recent years being in NZ and I think it’s because I’ve not had MSG in my food so long and when I added MSG in a chicken dish (from a Malaysian recipe book) sometime ago, I had the same reaction – feeling parched and the lips feels like it’s breaking up. Just for fun, I experimented it again a few days later and I got the same reaction. Funny enough, I remember feeling that way back in KL – almost on a regular basis, it’s just that I thought I probably was dehydrated and didn’t relate it to MSG at all. – enlightenment has come –

Anyway, there’s lots more malaysian goodies on the menu but worth mentioning are the roti pisang (banana), roti telur/bawang (egg/onion) and murtabak. Yes, I will come back and I do recommend you give it a go if you’re craving for some roti action. Oh, sadly, no teh tarik on the menu. Perhaps I shall put in a suggestion. At this stage, Sugu had thought I am a journalist for the newspaper and I had to explain that I do this for my own blog. We knew this because he brought out a curry puff for us to sample (on the house) and asked if I’m writing for a newspaper. He he. Wow.. if only this happens at all the eateries. That happens to be one of my listed dream job! Here’s the curry puff. I cut it in half and thought of snapping another pic of it showing the fillings… but as soon as I cut it, my hand went straight for it and immediately into my mouth; gave the other half to Jeff and before we know it, it’s gone and I realised I hadn’t snapped a pic of the fillings. It’s really a ‘duh’ moment. Ha ha. But hey, the curry puff was great, just fresh from the oven. And I really like the flaky pastry.

Malaysia Boleh! *burp* So here’s the address if you feel like venturing out to Manukau. Oh, they’re 100% halal too… if that applies to you.

Tastes of Malaysia.  Food Junction Foodcourt, 615 Great South Road, Manukau. Ph: