Seremban Sikh seller spices up laksa

Rajinder Singh and wife Manjit Kaur run a stall named Singh Laksa, which offers the dish comprising curry powder, turmeric, coriander, curry leaves and lemongrass

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Rajinder (left) is Singh Laksa’s ‘chief laksa chef’, while Manjit handles the rest of the food. – Photo: The Star

By Asia Samachar | Malaysia |

A Cantonese-speaking Sikh is the man behind a well-known laksa dish in Seremban, the state capital of the Negeri Sembilan here, to rival Penang’s famed asam laksa.

He runs a stall named Singh Laksa, which offers the dish comprising curry powder, turmeric, coriander, curry leaves and lemongrass. Each bowl is served with homemade vegetarian sambal, reported The Star.

Both Negeri Sembilan and Penang are states that make up part of Malaysia.

“We are inspired by Malaysia’s rich culinary heritage,” Rajinder Singh, the 70-year-old stall operator whose mother is Chinese, told the Malaysian newspaper.

A bowl of laksa offered at his stall features noodles in a spice-rich gravy that combines Chinese, Indian and Malay influences. It resembles a version of the curry laksa or curry mee popular in Malaysia’s central region. But unlike most curry mee, Singh Laksa’s gravy is made without coconut milk. The stock is also vegetarian, according to the report.

“We experimented with different spice blends and ingredients, taking into account customer preference,” said his wife Manjit Kaur, 63, who has been on his side running the business for more than 20 years now. “We finally settled on a recipe that features a vegetarian gravy made with evaporated milk instead of coconut milk.”

A standard bowl at the pork-free stall includes a selection of noodles (kway teow, beehoon or yellow noodles), topped with the vegetarian gravy and tofu puffs. Non-vegetarians can opt for hard-boiled eggs, fishballs and fishcake slices.

The story of Singh Laksa — located along Jalan Temiang and close SMJK Chan Wa — began when Rajinder was working in the sales department of a multinational company.

With their four children all grown up, Manjit – a homemaker and passionate cook whose culinary repertoire includes Punjabi, Chinese, Malay, South Indian and Western food – soon got bored at home. Then, she learned of an elderly Chinese couple who ran a laksa stall and wanted to call it a day. Manjit took the opportunity to learn the basics of laksa-making from them, the report added.

Read the full story here.

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