Traditional Kelantanese Cuisine

Traditional Kelantanese cuisine

1. Nasi dagang
made by special nasi dagang glutinous rice cooked together with added coconut milk and is eaten with side dishes of chicken or ‘ikan tongkol’ (tuna fish) curry and hard boiled eggs.

2. Nasi berlauk
Rice with side dishes of chicken curry or gulai ‘ikan tongkol’ (tuna fish spice curry), served with a dash of sambal and pickled vegetable

The best nasi dagang / nasi berlauk is at Pasar Kubang Pasu in the mornings


3. Nasi kerabu / Nasi Ulam
rice with fragrant, fresh-picked leaves and shoots, traditionally dipped into budu (fish sauce)
Also eaten with solok lada, coconut flesh and fish fillet stuffed in a chilli

4. Nasi minyak
Fragrant scented rice cooked with ghee (clarified butter) and spices, served with ayam masak merah (chicken in red tomato sauce), beef rendang, vegetable dalca (chick peas curry) and acar (vegetable pickles)
In Malaysia, it is commonly served at Malay weddings.

5. Ayam (Chicken) Percik
Chicken which is roasted over a wood fire and combined with spicy coconut sauce and local herbs
The best ayam percik is at Pasar Berek 12 and Yati Ayam Percik

6. Laksa / Laksam Kelantan
Kelantanese laksa, noodles in white gravy made from fish and coconut milk. Served with ulam (raw vegetables) and sambal

7. Murtabak
Delicious savoury (with beef / chicken) or sweet (with banana and condensed milk) crepes made with roti canai dough filled with the savoury or sweet stuffings
Murtabak Raja, thick murtabak wrapping layers of murtabak inside.

8. Pulut (glutinous rice)
Glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk

Varieties of pulut :
- Pulut kuning, savoury glutinous rice, yellow in colour due to the tumeric, served with curry or rendang chicken / beef
- Pulut kacang, sweet glutinous rice, served with shredded coconut flesh and beans
The best pulut kacang is at Pasar Kubang Pasu in the mornings
- Pulut bakar / pulut lepa, sweet glutinous rice, sometimes filled with spicy beef / fish / prawn sambal floss
The sambal floss is made of meat cooked in spices until truly dried. It is also delicious to take by itself or served with rice


9. Traditional Kelantanese Kuih (pastries)
Kelantanese have a liking for sweet kuih :

- Akok, made of mixture of eggs, sugar and flour
- Che Mek Molek, translates to pretty lady in Kelantanese, is fried sweet potato with syrup filling
- Jala Mas, shaped as gold fine threads, made of egg yolk and sugar
- Buah Tanjung, also made of egg yolk and sugar
- Piana, sweet traditional cake
- Tahi Itik or Putih Telur, made of egg whites and sugar
- Seri Kaya, custard made of eggs, sugar and coconut milk
- Pengat Pisang, banana in sweet coconut milk sauce
- Sira Pisang, banana in syrup
- Tepung pelita, made of flour, coconut milk and sugar. It has two layers, the first layer is coconut milk and for the second layer is flour and sugar, and placed into banana leaf cup

Varieties of Kelantanese food can be found at the food market near the Central Market in the evenings.