Karipap Just Like Mak's

i made *karipap!

*curry puff

i made it just like my mak used to make, strictly based on observation, because i never made it when she was around. now that i was thinking of a good karipap to munch, i thought of how she used to make it. and it turned out pretty yummy!


for the meat filling, you only need onion (for sauteing), potatoes (diced real nice), minced meat (mak dulu insisted on potong daging from scratch. kata mak lagi sedap dari minced meat) and the curry powder.

i don't have any particular number of potatoes used, sizes or how big or small you should dice it. nor do i have the measurement of how many spoonfuls or even which spoon to use when you add in the curry powder. you see i'm making this based on my memory of how mak used to do it!

i only know i need 'em! agak-agak sendiri ok!


all ready? follow these simple steps to make your meat karipap filling. just remember it's onion first, meat next, then the curry (mixed first with water) and potato last. mix, turn, flip and stir until ingredients dry up in a juicy mixture of yummy meat filling, ready to be stuffed inside a karipap!


now, remember that i made this karipap totally based on my memory of what mak used, how she mixed 'em all in, and how it should look like when mixed together.

so i don't have any particular measurement, even for the dough. i just did it as i remember it. my only indication that the dough won't ended up hard or too flaky after frying is the result of mixing flour with butter.


i clearly remember mak saying after you mix flour with butter, the mixture must fall from the tip of your finger like grains of sand. ok mak didn't exactly use the term 'grain of sand' but i remember mak showing to us how it should look and feel like to the touch.

when she's done mixing flour with butter, she would grab a palm-full of the mixture, and let the bits drop through her fingers as she rubs the tip together. and yes, the mix would fall nicely like really fine crumbs - not plumpy, or too sticky. just right. mak said when you have this, then your karipap would surely be nicely crispy.

that is the rule i follow when i'm making the dough, and yes, it always works!


when the dough is ready, it's time to make the flat circle shapes that would eventually be the end-karipap. with a rolling pin, it's an easy task! but erm - i don't have one here! so what i did was i pull a pinch of dough, and flatten it manually!

jadilah!


i remember when making karipap with mak, all of us 5 have jobs to do - one would probably be right beside mak, picking up the circle shape dough that mak made using a glass, after flattening it with the rolling pin. one would be ready at the stove, heating up a pan of oil for frying karipap. the rest would help puting in the meat filling, and closing the fold of the dough with the kelim.

kelim ape in english ha?

making the kelim was quite fun, as us sisters would compare each other's 'product' to see who made the neatest, smallest, most prettiest kelim around the karipap. usually, sape lagi - surely yong's karipap would be the cutest looking one, with the nicest most neatest kelim. and some of us ended up having really fat ones!

man, it was fun!


when you're done, it's time to fry! yummy yummy! i don't think i need to elaborate on this. heat oil, put in karipap, and wait til it's golden brown.

ok fine, i was hoping you didn't notice but my karipap did come in all shapes and sizes! oh well, as long as the smell is irresistable and the taste gobble-up-able!


and so it was - my karipap - proudly made out of love and the memory of my mak sitting down on the tikar mengkuang at the kitchen floor kneading the dough, and the image of five noisy girls hovering around, in the spirit of 'helping'.

i even remember how mak would extend her legs forward when she's too tired sitting cross-legged. and i remember when it's all done, and there's just a small ball of dough left, mak would let us play with it - like main masak-masak!

* * *

i will always remember the kitchen as one of the best places to hang out and have long chats with mak especially while she cooked. ye lah balik sekolah je terus jenguk dapur tengok mak tengah masak ape and pokpek about what happened in school today.

so i hope when my boys are old enough to cut carrots and stir hot soup on the stove with me; they'll learn that the kitchen can be that same bonding place for them too.