After 90 years, nasi kandar goes back to Chennai

BY S. ARULLDAS

PENANG: Penang’s famed nasi kandar has, literally, returned to its “birthplace” after almost 100 years with the opening of the first outlet in Tamil Nadu, India, recently. 

The opening of Pelita Samudra Pertama’s first branch in Chennai, is all the more significant because this was where nasi kandar’s original masala (mixed spice paste) recipe came from. 

According to Pelita’s co-owner and a pioneer in the nasi kandar business K.K. Kirudu Mohamaed, 66, the recipe was first brought to Penang by Tamil Muslim migrants from Athiyuthu village in Tamil Nadu’s Ramnad district in 1910. 

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS: Kirudu (right) and Pelita Samudra Pertama (M) Sdn Bhd chairman Shamsuri Ahmad showing a full-page coverage by an Indian newspaper of Pelita's outlet in Chennai. Behind them is Khaliq.

“The spicy food was subsequently called nasi kandar as the early migrants carried a wooden pole bearing two baskets with a pot of rice on one end and chicken or mutton curry on the other,” he said.  

Pelita’s 11th outlet, which opened in Chennai on March 6, serves authentic nasi kandar, mee rebus, mee goreng, roti canai, murtabak, nasi lemak, nasi goreng, satay and ais kacang. 

The 24-hour nasi kandar chain already has 10 outlets in Malaysia – seven in Penang , two in Kedah and one in Petaling Jaya. 

Kirudu said the management was so pleased with the overwhelming response towards the Chennai restaurant that they planned to open two more branches in Bangalore and New Delhi.  

“On the first day of business about 8,000 customers patronised our restaurant and our chefs had to cook from 5am till 1am the next day. 

“The masala there had a better taste compared with the local masala and we have brought in large quantities of Chennai masala for use here,” he said. 

Kirudu, who is Pelita’s chief cook, opened the first nasi kandar shop in Tamil Street on Jan 10, 1956. 

Business was so good that he eventually turned the outlet into the northern region’s first 24-hour nasi kandar restaurant in 1973. The shop subsequently changed hands. 

Another Pelita partner Khaliq Kamil, 58, said the local recipe gradually changed over the years to suit the local tastes.  

They had catered for VIP customers such as the late Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad and ministers after a cabinet meeting in Putrajaya last year.