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'People who have enjoyed our cuisine know it is unique'

Don't tell chef and restaurant owner Hasni 'Jeff' Ghazali that Malaysian cuisine is like Chinese or Thai cuisine. "We have delicacies made famous by people from China, Thailand and India who settled down in Malaysia," he says. "Apart from what they brought to my country, and the food that has evolved over the centuries, we have hundreds of regional dishes. People who have enjoyed our cuisine know it is unique."

Though there are over 50 Malaysian restaurants in New York and the neighbouring states, Ghazali believes the number ought to be in hundreds.

He started Bentara over 12 years ago in New Haven, Connecticut, with his partner Bill Christian. It soon caught on with Yale University students and professors. Starting with 80 seats, the restaurant now has room for 150 diners.

He took a gamble, he says, suspecting that university students and professors would have an open mind about Malaysian food. Soon, people from neighbouring towns started coming to his restaurant. If he could succeed in a small Connecticut university town, he reasons, others could do a good job of running Malaysian kitchens across America.

In a couple of weeks, he would be publishing his first book, Bentara Malay Kitchen.

'Unless one cooks from the heart, the food will not be great'

Ghazali, who came to America to study computer programming, says he always knew he would start a restaurant. He had helped his mother run a restaurant in Malaysia for several years. "But I did not know I could open it in a small American city or town and see it become a big success," he says, adding that he is planning to start a Malaysian restaurant in New York within the next few years.

He said after years in the software industry, he wanted to get away from it.

'Staring at a computer screen for hours every day gave me migraines. I would joke about being addicted to Tylenol (acetaminophen) because I had to take them every day.' He said in an interview about six years ago. 'I had to take a pill every eight hours to make sure I didn't get headaches.'

After earning a masters degree in computer science from Nebraska's Wesleyan University, he began working in the IT industry in New York but after a few years felt burnt out.

He says he would not have thought of a restaurant but for the grounding he got from his mother who first sent out homemade delicacies including nasi lemak to roadside hawkers and coffee shops to sell at their stalls, and eventually opened her own restaurant. He was 12 when he began to get up at 3 am to help his mother.

From his mother, he also leant the importance of getting to know the customers. Bentara is a title for the sultan's trusted servants. "I also learned that unless one cooks from the heart," he says, "the food will not be great. She would say, cook with patience, serve with a smile, and know your customers."

Three special recipes

Ghazali shared the recipes for three of his signature dishes:

Roti Canai

Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups high gluten flour, plus 1-2 tbsps extra
• 1 cup water
• 6 tablespoons ghee
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tbsps sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

Method:

• Mix condensed milk, water, salt, and 2 tablespoons of ghee in a bowl. Place flour in a big bowl. Make a well in the middle and pour in the liquid mixture. Knead outward until evenly incorporated, then knead for another 5-10 minutes until a soft dough has formed.
• Cover with a damp cloth and let stand for 30 minutes at room temperature.
• Divide the dough into 8 portions. Knead each and mould into a ball. Coat the balls with extra ghee and collect them in a bowl. Let stand for another 30 minutes at room temperature.
• Spread each ball on a large surface to form a very thin layer. The thinner the better. Then fold each edge toward the centre to form a square.
• Melt a teaspoon of ghee in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Fry each roti square in the pan, turning until golden brown on both sides. Turn out onto a flat surface and give the bread a whack with both hands to crack the crust that has formed.

Curry Chicken Sauce

(This side dish goes best with Roti Canai. If you cannot get sambal mix, you can create your own: Grind a cup of fresh red chillies or pound them in mortar and pestle. He also says he found that dried Chili de Arbol is pretty good and not too spicy. Dried red jalapeno is good too, although it is spicier, so use sparingly. There are a lot of different dried chillies that people can find in the Mexican section of a grocery store. However, avoid the smoked ones. They tend to make the dishes taste heavier.)

Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking: 50 minutes
Serves: 8 (as a side dish)

Ingredients:

• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 4 ounces shallots, chopped
• 4 ounces white onion, chopped
• 1 ounce ginger, sliced thin
• 8 tbsps Madras hot curry powder
• 4 tbsps Sambal Oelek or substitute chili powder
• 1 1/2 pound chicken breast cut into 1/2 inch cubes or 11/2und of cut-up skinned whole chicken pieces
• 3 cups water
• 2 1/2 cans coconut milk
• 10 ounces lentils
• 1 large potato, cubed
• 2 1/2 tsps kosher salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

Method:

• Blend together garlic, shallots, white onion, ginger, Sambal Oelek, curry powder and 1/2 cup of water for 15-20 seconds.
• Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium heat. When it simmers, add the blended ingredients and chicken. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until oil has risen to the top and the mixture is aromatic. Take care not to let the bottom of the mixture burn -- turn down the heat if need be.
• Add coconut milk, water, lentils and potatoes. Add salt. Bring to a boil and let simmer. Taste and adjust salt if necessary. Cook 30 to 45 minutes until the lentils are soft.

Pineapple and Cucumber Achar

Preparation: 20 minutes
Yields: 11 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 large pineapple
• 3 large cucumbers
• 1 small red onion
• 2 fresh red chillies
• 1 cup rice vinegar
• 2 tsps salt
• 1/2 cup sugar

Method:

• Peel the pineapple, cut through the core into 8 wedges. Discard the hard middle part of the pineapple. Slice each wedge into 1/8 inch pieces.
• Peel the cucumbers, prick the outside with a fork from one end to the other, slice in half, seed and cut across 1/8 inch thick into a crest shape
• Cut the onion in half and slice thin lengthwise.
• Cut the chillies into small bits.
• Dissolve rice vinegar, water, salt and sugar together in a bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to incorporate.
• Cover and let sit in the refrigerator for 2 or 3 hours, best overnight. Serve as a side dish with main course and steamed white rice.