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Serving up bamboo biryani... under a tree
GEORGE TOWN,June 3 — The fragrant aroma of spices wafted through the air as a long queue formed in front of a roadside stall laden with earthen pots of rice and curries.
While all dishes and a few types of rice are served from the earthen pots, it was the biryani rice that stands out as it’s steamed in large cylinder bamboo stems.
This is the stall’s specialty which also explains its name: Bamboo Village.
The stall owner, T.Gunaseelan, learned the trick of cooking biryani rice in bamboo stems from his fellow chefs in India.
“Bamboo biryani rice is famous in Hyderabad, India so I asked my colleagues there for tips on how to make it,” he said.
The 26-year-old, who worked as a chef in a hotel and a cafe the past five years, tried making the bamboo biryani rice on his own many times to perfect the recipe.
“I tried many ways, some with chicken in it, some without, before I arrived at this recipe of biryani cooked using chicken stock, fresh spices and specially imported Pakistan Basmati rice,” he said.
Each bamboo stem contains a serving of fragrant biryani rice with a hard boiled egg and customers can opt for any of the chicken or mutton dishes to go with the rice.
Gunaseelan said he normally has about nine different items including mutton, chicken, fish, vegetables and vegetarian options such as bean curd and dhall.
On normal days, the stall offers up biryani rice as well as tomato rice and plain white rice to go with the dishes that are served on banana leaves atop brown paper.
The stall, located by the roadside next to a small field under the shade of a large tree, has been in business only since April 6 but is already drawing a huge crowd on most days.
“I only make 150 portions of biryani rice and we make food enough for about 300 people each day so we usually run out by 3pm,” he said.
Gunaseelan has been renting the lot from the local council since April.
He had extended his operating hours till 7pm during Ramadan as there is a row of Ramadan stalls here this month but a few days after that, he reverted back to his original operating hours of 11am to 3pm.
He said the authorities told him that he was not allowed to be part of the Ramadan stalls because his food is not halal-certified.
He tried applying for halal certification as his supplies were taken from halal-certified suppliers and he had two Muslim cooks and assistants in his kitchen.
“I was told that roadside stalls cannot get halal certification so I am now looking for a permanent shop to open a proper restaurant,” he said.
He hopes to open a restaurant in the same area by the end of this year and he will apply for halal certification then.
For now, he will continue operating under the tree next to the field daily except for Wednesdays.
On weekends, the stall will have additional rice options such as nasi hujan panas(or rainbow rice) and nasi minyak.
“We will also have special dishes like chicken kurma on weekends,” he said.
Every Tuesday and Friday, the stall will offer additional vegetarian options such as bean curd and vegetarian kurma.
On normal days, the stall will have its staple of fried chicken, ayam masak merah, mutton curry, dhall, omelette, stir fried kunyit cabbage and a few types of curries.
Gunaseelan said most of the dishes are made from his mother’s recipes. “We emphasise more on homecooked dishes so everything is made from scratch, our curries and spices are our own special mix,” he said.
He also prepares his own bamboo stems which he and his family chopped from the forests in Balik Pulau and Kulim.
The stall also accepts catering orders for between 100 to 150 people.
Bamboo Village
Roadside, next to playground, Jalan Pantai Jerjak 15, Penang.
Time: 11am-3pm
Closed on Wednesdays
Tel: 019-5590337 (Guna)
