The Story of Mahsuri

The best known legend of Langkawi is of Mahsuri, a pretty maiden who lived during the reign of Sultan Abdullah Mukarram Shah the Second who ruled Kedah between 1762 and 1800. She died under tragic circumstances for a crime she did not commit. She died a victim of a conspiracy plotted against her out of jealousy by Mahura, her very own mother-in-law for her magnetic personality. Mahura bitterly objected to her husband's intentions of taking Mahsuri as his second wife and eventually agreed that their son, Mat Deris should seek the hand of Mahsuri in marriage. Since than, Mahura had grown bitterly jealous of Mahsuri for whom she bore much hatred.
In time, Mahsuri gave birth to a baby boy and he was named Mat Arus. This inflamed Mahura even more. Mahsuri was accused of committing adultery with Deramang, a young troubadour who she befriended. The chieftain of Langkawi, Dato Karma Jaya, her own father-in-law was so taken in by Mahura's accusation that, without a proper investigation, he sentenced Mahsuri to death.
As proof of her innocence, some people say, white blood was seen gushing out of her wound during execution at Padang Hangus. Others maintain there was the sudden appearance of white mist that enveloped the spot where she was executed, which it was believed was a sign of mourning of her innocence.
Mahsuri is best remembered for her curse on Langkawi which was uttered before she died. She had said, "For this act of injustice Langkawi shall not prosper for seven generations to come." The execution of Mahsuri was indeed a tragedy of dramatic proportions. And her curse? Myth, legend or fantasy? History tells us that within a few years of Mahsuri's death, Langkawi was devasted by the Siamese and Datuk Seri Kerma Jaya and his entire family were killed. Rice fields and granaries were completely set on fire.
To this day, grains that appear to be burnt rice grains are still to be found at Padang Matsirat. However, many believe the curse is now over with the numerous development projects undertaken on the island.

The Story of Puteri Gunung Ledang

The Legend of Gunung Ledang revolves around a princess that allegedly lived on Mount Ophir in Johor, Malaysia.

The Sultan had heard of her beauty and wanted to marry her but she set seven impossible conditions for him. The conditions were:
-A golden bridge for her to walk to Malacca from the mountain,
-A silver bridge for her to return from Malacca to the mountain,
-Seven jars of virgin's tears,
-Seven bowls of betel nut juice,
-Seven trays filled with hearts of germs,
-Seven trays filled with hearts of mosquitoes, and
-A bowl of the blood of the Sultan's young son.

Some versions of the legend say that the Sultan was not able to fulfill any of these requests, while others say that he was able to fulfill the first six requests (thus causing the ruin of the Malacca Sultanate) but could not fulfill the final request which would have required him to kill his son. The point of the story is that the Sultan was either too proud or too blind to realise that the conditions were the Puteri's way of turning his proposal down.

Some say that remnants of the gold and silver bridge still exist, but have been reclaimed by the forest.

Myths and Legends

To the orang asli, the "original people" who have for millenia inhabited the forests of Malaysia, the earth was an abode for more than the diversity of plant and animal life. The world's oldest jungles, dense with mystery, were the playground of spirits, both benevolent and, well, less so.
Prominent natural features--and there are many in Malaysia--were wreathed in legend. Tioman Island is said to have been a dragon princess who decided to make her home where Tioman now rises out of the sea. Tranquil Lake Chini in the wilds of Pahang is thought to be the site of a magnificent Khmer city now sunk beneath the lotus blossoms. Mount Ophir, in Johor, is said to be the home of 'Puteri Gunung Ledang', a legendary princess once wooed by the Sultan of Malacca. The princess' beauty is still associated with the natural charms of the mountain itself. Langkawi Island has no such creation story, but the curse laid on the island by a princess falsely accused of adultery is one of the best-known of Malaysia's magical myths.
The supernatural imbues not only the land and water, but living things as well. The orang asli believe that one's semangat--soul or life force--traveled abroad during sleep; dreams were the record of the soul's adventures. In the city, it is a little harder to find someone who believes so wholeheartedly in what was once a compelling way of thought. But fragments of the old mythological system remain; the kris--the wavy-bladed Malay dagger--is a shining example. Many Malays have their own kris as well as their own kris tales. The kris is reputed to be able to fly by night and seek out victims (their owners' enemies, presumably) without a guiding hand. One who possessed a loyal kris was indeed powerful.

Malaysian recipes

CHICKEN CURRY

Ingredients
1.5–1.7 kg chicken, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 grated coconut
3½ cups water
4 potatoes, quartered
2 tomatoes, quartered
6 tbsp oil

Ground spices (A):
15 shallots
4 cloves garlic
14–15 dried chillies, seeded
2 fresh red chillies
2½cm piece fresh turmeric
4 candlenuts
2cm piece galangal
2 stalks lemon grass
1 tbsp belacan stock granules
3½ tbsp meat curry powder

(B):
1 star anise
3cm piece cinnamon stick
4 cloves
3 cardamoms, split and use seeds only
3 stalks curry leaves Seasoning:
1–2 tsp salt or to taste
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp light soy sauce

Method Add 1/2 cup water to the grated coconut; mix and squeeze out to obtain thick coconut milk. Add 3 cups remaining water to the residue and squeeze to obtain thin coconut milk. Set aside. Heat oil in a deep saucepan and fry ground spices (A) and (B) until fragrant. Add in chicken and pour in 1½ cups thin coconut milk. Simmer and cook over low heat for 15–20 minutes adding thin coconut milk slowly until finished. Add potatoes and tomatoes and continue to cook until meat is cooked and potatoes turn tender. Pour in thick coconut milk and bring to a boil till the oil floats to the top. Season to taste.

ROTI JALA

Ingredients :
250g flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
(A) Mix:
2 cups santan
1 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
Pinch of turmeric powder (kunyit powder)

Method
Sift flour into a mixing bowl. Stir in eggs. Add (A) gradually and beat until batter is smooth. Strain batter.
Pour batter into a roti jala cup with four to five funnels. Heat a nonstick frying pan over low heat. Grease lightly. Move the roti jala cup in a circular motion over the nonstick pan to form a lacy pattern.
When the pancake is set, turn it over onto a plate. Fold the pancake into quarters or roll up and stack neatly on a plate.
Serve with curry chicken, rendang or any curry dish.

CURRY PUFF -CHICKEN

Ingredients:

Filling-
200g chicken, diced
2 potatoes, diced
2–3 tbsp oil
2 onions, diced
1/2 tsp chopped garlic
3 tbsp meat curry powder
1 sprig curry leaves
2cm piece cinnamon stick
Salt and sugar to taste
1 tbsp oyster sauce
A dash of pepper

Pastry
350g plain flour, sifted
1/2 tsp salt
150g pastry margarine
150ml cold water
1 tbsp lemon juice

Method: For the filling: Heat oil in a wok and fry garlic until fragrant. Add onion, cinnamon stick, curry leaves, meat curry powder and potatoes. Add just enough water to cover the potatoes. Cook over a medium low heat until potatoes are done. Add chicken, salt, sugar, pepper and oyster sauce. Stir-fry until meat is cooked and dry. Dish out and leave in a plastic colander to drain off excess oil.

For the pastry: Put sifted flour into a mixing bowl and stir in salt. Rub margarine into the flour until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Make a well in the centre, add water and lemon juice. Mix with both hands to form a soft dough. If dough is a bit dry, add a little more water. Do not knead. Set dough aside to rest for 10–15 minutes. Divide pastry dough into two portions. Roll out each portion to about 1/4 cm thickness. Cut out into 9–10 cm rounds with a cutter. Place a tablespoonful of filling in the centre of each round. Fold pastry into half to enclose the filling. Seal by pinching and fluting the edges. Heat enough oil in a wok and, when hot, deep-fry the curry puffs until golden brown. Remove and drain on absorbent paper.

(Recipes taken off kuali.com)

A view of a Malaysian wet market

These pictures were taken in the Seri Gombak morning market. And the little girl with the head scarf is none other then my model and darling daughter - her royal fussiness, Anne Syafiqa

Malaysian Models

Here are some of Malaysia's most beautiful women - top models (Some who are also actresses...)





Nasha Aziz

Amber Chia

Tengku Azura

Some local food...

One of the characteristics of roti canai is that it can be eaten with the hands, without the need for utensils. This makes it a convenient dish to consume, while being filling. This characteristic makes it a dish of choice as breakfast or as late night supper.

Traditionally, it is served with dal or 'dhal' (lentil) curry, which in North India is prepared with chana dal. It can sometimes be taken with sugar or condensed milk. More recently, various improvements on plain roti have been devised to suit Malaysians. Generally the newer forms of roti canai are denoted by using a prefix of roti attached to the additional ingredient used.



Nasi Lemak is widely eaten in Malaysia, even as a dish served in Malaysian schools. Nasi lemak is a breakfast dish, sold early in the morning at roadside stalls in Malaysia, where it is often sold packed in newspaper, brown paper or banana leaf. However, there are restaurants which serve it on a plate as noon or evening meals, making it possible for the dish to be treated as a delicacy. Nasi lemak panas which means hot nasi lemak is another name given to nasi lemak served with hot cooked rice.

A yellow noodle is fried using specially prepared thick gravy of sweet potatoes and fresh tomatoes.And the taste is further enhanced with the addition of fried bean curd, boiled potatoes and cuttlefish.The aroma is intoxicating awesome!

This popular Spicy rice noodle is not to be miss when you are in Penang. A hot and sour fish based gravy is topped with a variety of aromatic fresh herbs like Torch ginger flower ( bunga kantan), polygonum (chian hong) and gravy is cooked with lots of lemon grass.Lettuce, cucumber, pineapple and chillies adds to this colorful dish.

Flat Rice Noodle stir fired in high heat is Penang Char Koay Teow. It is an art to see them frying the noodle with bean sprouts, egg, prawns, Chinese sausage, cockles and chilli. A special request popular Penang specialty can cost you RM5 a plate if there is crab meat or "extras". I love mine with chives. It smells extra good when it is served on a banana leaf.