Thumbs-up to Malaysian Roti Canai!

The roti canai that I know and am accustomed to eating is a round Indian-influenced flat-bread made with butter and topped with sugar.  As a kid, I remember we would order two or three of these to go and they would come out wrapped in a banana leaf, which was wrapped with newspaper.  You'd undo the wrapping to find one hot, delicious helping of fluffy, soft, melt-in-your-mouth, buttery bread with sugar on top.  Mmm ... mmm.  

Roti canai Indonesia-style (with sugar)

Roti canai can be eaten with utensils or just your hands.

The Malaysian version, however, is different in that it's served with dhal, or lentil curry.  (It can be served with any kind of curry, really).  There is no sugar.  And it can be consumed for either breakfast or a late night snack.

I decided we couldn't leave Penang without trying their roti canai so mom and I bid Sahara & Gigi good night (they were exhausted from today's adventure) and asked a few locals which roti canai stall is their favorite.  Amazingly the answers varied.  People sell roti canai all over Penang.  How do you know which one is good?  I guess you just have to be brave and try one.  We decided to stop by one on Penang Road that had a lot of people in it.  That's always a good sign, right?  Sold by Indians, as many of these stalls are, we went up to them and requested one roti canai and one martabak telur along with two teh tarik, iced Indian pulled milk tea.  We then plopped ourselves down on a couple of plastic stools at a table al fresco.  It was a beautiful night with lots of people out at 10 PM. 

Five minutes later our food came out, and we couldn't wait to dig in.

Roti canai, top right corner and martabak telur, bottom left corner

I dove right into the roti canai first.  The roti, or bread was just as I remembered it from my childhood days.  Slightly crispy on the outside, but fluffy on the inside.  I broke a piece off and dipped it into the dhal, which was flavored with onion, garlic, turmeric, cumin, and red chili pepper.  It was delicious!  Some people might find the dhal a bit spicy, but I thought it was perfect.  The martabak telur, on the other hand, was fair.  I think it could have used a little more seasoning, but pairing it with its own bowl of dhal helped zest it up.  A side dish of raw red onions was also available to add more flavor if desired.  I'm not a fan of raw onions, so I didn't touch it.  The best part of this whole meal?  It cost 7.60 Ringgit, only $2.50 USD.  Love it.  :)

The couple next to us kept looking over at us.  Finally, my mom said hello and the young man said they couldn't help but admire our food.  We explained what it was, and got into talking about food in general and their experiences in Penang so far.  We learned that they're from New Orleans and were vacationing in Malaysia for one month.  A very friendly couple, and it was nice to run into fellow Americans.  Come to think of it, they were the only Americans that we had the pleasure of meeting this entire trip.  Hmm!