BESUT: “Does it smell of kerosene?” The quip is a favourite among customers of Nik Zalina Nik Yusof when they buy “kuih tepung pelita” from her.
The 41-year-old never tires of the joke as it is one of the ways she connects with her customers. Her tepung pelita has become so recognised that it is sought after by customers from Jerteh, Terengganu to Kelantan.
The tepung pelita is a two-layer traditional kuih prepared in a square mold made of banana leaves. Its sweetness is complemented with a hint of saltiness from the coconut milk layer above. Its texture is soft and creamy.
The kuih is typically served after lunch, during tea or when breaking fast during Ramadan.
Nik Zalina’s tepung pelita is made with the same ingredients as others: rice flour, coconut milk, a mixture of sugar syrup and boiled pandan leaves and salt to taste.
However, she said, what made a tepung pelita tastier than others is the correct ratio of ingredients.
MEASURE TO TASTE
“For example, I allocate only a teaspoon of sugar for each mold so that the sweetness is uniform and I do the same for the coconut milk and other ingredients,” she revealed to Bernama.
The mother of six said what typically compromised the taste of the kuih were using too little coconut milk, not properly mixing and cooking the ground rice flour and omitting the pandan leaves, which is responsible for the fragrant aroma of the dessert.
Due to the complexity in preparing the kuih, only women of the older generation still want to do it.
It is rare to find young women making the dessert as it requires skill and experience to prepare a good tepung pelita.
However, Nik Zalina was fortunate enough to have learned the trade from her late mother-in-law five years ago.
“I did not want to let go the knowledge from whom I considered an expert in making tepung pelita to go to waste. I therefore decided to continue what she was doing after she passed on,” she said.
FAMILY RECIPE
Nik Zalina who lived in Kampung Paroh, near here, said that her mother-in-law had taught her well. Well enough, in fact, that many of her customers complimented her tepung pelita by saying it was a good as those made by her mother-in-law.
A trademark of the tepung pelita is the square mold made from banana leaves that have been lightly scorched.
“Making the mold can take hours as I would have to cut the leaves according to size before shaping it into squares (like a boat),” she said.
If she was not careful in making the mold, the mixture of flour and coconut mold could leak.
Getting the supply of banana leaves was also a tedious process. She often had to go from village to village across Besut and if all else fails, she would have to buy them from suppliers.
She starts making the kuih from as early as 3am or 4am. The process includes grinding the flour, filling up the mold and steaming the mixture.
ALL YEAR LONG
Nik Zalina does not only make the dessert for Ramadan. She receives orders all year long for wedding ceremonies, official functions and for stalls.She sells them at RM2 for five pieces or RM35 for 100.
“During the wedding season, I often have to make 400-500 pieces a day. This is also to fulfill requests for government functions. On normal days, I only make between 100-150 pieces,” she said.
She has her children and an assistant to help her out during the busy days.
Despite having to wake up early and toil every day to prepare the kuih, Nik Zalina perseveres. It is her hope that the traditional kuih continues to hold a place in the people’s heart, even amid competition from more modern desserts. --BERNAMA