Kuih Raya MrsN

Hari Sabtu yang lepas, I went to visit a friend. I wanted her to take me to the shop where she had her sofas reupholstered. Unfortunately, the shop does not take any more order because they are fully booked. After raya nanti baru boleh buat. Hmmm… nampaknya tahun ini, raya pakai kerusi buruk tu jugak lah. This is what happened when we procrastinate.

Anyway, after going to the shop, I dropped by at her house coz she wanted to show me her kuih raya which she has just attempted to bake after so many years. Usually, like me, she’d just buy them from the shops or order from the bakers. This year, she said, she wanted to make them herself because it’s so easy and cheaper that way. Plus she has a new maid who actually sells kuih raya.

So apa lagi… she went to shop, bought the stuff and started baking. Over the weekend, she managed to make a good 5-6 type of biskut raya and they looked pretty neat to me.

“BJ, engkau buat lah sendiri. Senang saja..” , said my friend.

I was a bit skeptical at first because I have never tried making my own kuih raya. Dulu-dulu, masa kecik, adalah tolong mak buat kuih raya. Itu pun setakat potong buah cherry, terap adunan dengan acuan, or susun kuih dalam balang. Buat sendiri the whole thing from scratch memang tak pernah.

Tapi memandangkan my friend ni yang beriya2 kata senang, senang, I pun terus teruja untuk mencuba. She gave me the recipes of some of the kuih which she has tried plus some of the basic ingredients like tepung kastad, badam kisar and a block of butter. So, I really had no reason not to try it, lah kan?

I went home and started thinking of what biscuits to make. In my mind, I only had 2: Biskut Cornflakes and Samperit because these are the biscuits that I like best. Kalau beli, satu balang can cost me RM27-35 (depending on where I buy it from) itu pun tak tentu sedap. Kalau buat sendiri, lebih murah:

Butter - RM3.50, Tepung - RM3.60, Gula – RM 1.50.

Vanilla essence, cornflakes, apa ke benda lagi tu memang dah sedia ada kat rumah, tak payah beli lagi. So, you see? Tak sampai RM10 je costnya and you can make a lot more than satu balang. With that, I was convinced.

I first tried the Cornflakes because I didn’t have the acuan samperit at that time. First batch, tak menjadi. Rasa ada, tapi rupa dia tak berapa menarik. It was flat and a tad too sweet.

So I tried it the second time. Ok sikit ~ rupa ada, tapi rasa ada kurang sikit sebab terlupa taruh susu tepung (konon dah terror tak payah tengok resipi!). But overall, I think they were quite nice (for my standard lah). Kata orang, tak malu lah kalau nak hantar rumah mak mertua! And every time after berbuka, MrNordin & Nadim will take a bite or two, and I’m quite happy to see that they like it.

On Monday, we went to hunt for the acuan samperit at Chow Kit. Why there? Because I wanted to buy yang tembaga punya, like the one my mother had. I went down to look for it, my husband and the rest of my family members waited in the car, amidst the jam. Tapi mana ada jual lagi acuan tembaga sekarang ni… jenuh bertanya, semua kata tak ada. In the end, I bought the plastic ones because my husband was already screaming at me on the phone to come back to the car. Oh well… men! They just don’t understand the concept of look, see and feel before buying anything, do they?

With those things in my possession, I could start making my biskut samperit. But the recipe? I had 3 different versions, tak tahu mana satu nak pilih. Ada yang pakai tepung gandum and cornstarch, ada yang pakai tepung kastad saja and ada yang pakai a combination of all three tepungs. Hai… pening! Pilih punya pilih, I chose the one with tepung gandum and cornstarch because this recipe uses condensed milk.

Tak jadi…. KERAS!!! Campak kat dinding pun tak pecah! Biskut samperit is supposed to be soft and melt in the mouth, right? Not hard like biskut Tai Thong!

I tak puas hati! So a day after that I tried it again, this time using the tepung kastad version. Amazingly, that turned out very well. Just the right texture and taste. My maid kata, “Sedap… macam nilah baru ada rasa samperit!”. Lega….

Having completed two types of kuih raya (after two failed attempts), I realized that I’m not cut to be a baker, like some of my friends who can actually make money out of it. Baru dua jenis kuih, dah tak larat. Macamana lah agaknya orang yang buat beratus-ratus biji kuih tu untuk dijual di hari raya? Yang jenis duduk depan oven dari lepas sahur sampai nak berbuka, buat kuih punya pasal. Hee… amazing! But I suppose, if you know there’s money in it, you’ll do it anyhow.

As of now, tepung ada banyak lagi kat rumah, butter pun ada lagi. So, I think I’m going to make some more this weekend.

My husband told me his favourite biskut raya is “Rock Bun” but not many people make it anymore. So semalam I dah try lah, tapi err… tak berapa menjadi jugak. I think the texture was not quite right. The recipe I used stated “Beat butter and sugar”, but I think the correct way to do it is to use teknik “Gaul & Ramas”. I remember this because Rock Bun was the first biscuit I made in my SRT class! So tak apa, I shall try it again and surprise my husband when he comes back from JB tomorrow.

Cheers everyone and selamat mencuba! If I can do it, so can you!!