Jealous

A word that succinctly describes what I feel when I look at these photos, taken by Dave in northern India last July.

This afternoon we stopped by Brickfields (a 'Little India' in Kuala Lumpur) to check out the Deepvali market. Aiyo! (That's a Chinese term but I don't know the equivalent in Hindi or Tamil. Readers?) The market is a sad shadow of what it was during first Deepvali season we passed in KL, four years ago.

It's so much smaller. In 2005 the market sprawled over the walkway between KL Sentral Station and the Brickfields Monorail Station; there were sweets sellers and a biryani vendor all the way from India and fresh roti being flipped and chapati being patted and laid atop griddles.

At the other end of the market, further up Jalan Tun Sambanthan in the direction opposite to Chinatown, you could buy five or six different varieties of wonderful handmade pappadum and delicious kulfi in flavors like saffron and pistachio, both shipped in for the occasion from India.

In 2005 the Deepvali Market was packed from afternoon to evening with happy shoppers and eaters. It really felt like a festive season was upon us.

The next year the biryani and other interesting eats vendors behind KL Sentral were gone. The next year, nothing at all food-ish was sold in the KL Sentra-Monorail walkway.

By last year the Tun Sambanthan stretch of the market had lost much of its character. Many small vendors had been replaced by stalls selling same-same cookies and savories packed in big plastic jars ridiculously labelled 'homemade'.  At least we still had our opulent Punjabi sweets, made by a talented cook from Pakistan.

Alas, this year he's gone too. There is one stall run by a couple of youngish guys selling what look to be homemade sweets. A few are excellent, especially the 'milk cake', a moist, crumbly milk sweet that tastes a lot like caramel, and a chocolate-y sweet that, in a weirdly palatable way, tastes alot like Carnation Breakfast Bars.

But all in all the Brickfields Deepvali Market just ain't what it used to be.

We've no idea if this is down to the sluggish economy, or if City Hall's determined to 'clean up' (read: homogenize and dullify) markets in general. But it is sad to see the lead-up to what is such an important holiday for Malaysian Indians become so toned down.

While some concern themselves with staking a claim on nasi lemak and Hainan chicken rice in the name of national pride real, live Malaysian culinary traditions are disappearing right in front of us.

All I can do is look at these photos and envy Dave for his opportunity to enjoy Indian sweets, in India, on a daily basis. And I think it's time to consider an India excursion to coincide with Deepvali 2010.

Comments

[Gastronomer]

Serves you right, Ms. Robyn! We readers have been jealous for a good long while now ;-)

[kirbie]

I was thinking the same thing as Gastronomer. I'm always feeling jealous after seeing the beautiful pictures you post of the tasty food!

[Nate]

Compared to KL, there are very few Indians here in Sarawak. Hence, no Deepavali public holiday. Worse, it's hard to find good, Indian-made roti canai here. And thosai? Impossible.

So even though it's harder to find Deepavali celebration food in KL, at least you have it. I'm jealous that you can even get thosai!

When Annie and I take a short trip to KL later this month, I'm going out to have nasi kandar every night!

[J2Kfm]

yup, those milky, melt in mouth sweets. some sickeningly sweet (tooth-numbing even), while some got it just right.

now if only i can rmbr the Indian name for that. it's either Palkova, or Mysore Pak.

funky names eh?

[another outspoken female]

Darn it - I found your site just after returning from my first trip to Malaysia (mainly Melaka). But after such a fantastic holiday, I'll be sure to stop by before I plan my next holiday :)

[Cupcake]

"Aiyoyo" would be considered an Indian expression of dismay or distress ...

[web Design Firm]

Yummy pics lol I just love gulab jamun thanks for sharing this :)

[Mel @ bouchonfor2.com]

mmm pistachio kulfi is what I grew up eating growing up around Punjabi Market in Vancouver... brings back childhood memories :)

[HCR]

did u check the large car park behind the row of shops across the road from YMCA? most of the street vendors were moved there this year. they erected a stage with live performances at night as well. it lasted the whole week before deepavali.

[NA]

Tamils say "Aiyyo" (two syllables, like eye-yo) or "Aiyyiyo" (three syllables, same principle) to express dismay, although in this case I'd suggest a bemused "Tscha!" instead.

[Fun & Fact]

I keep want to start this comment with ‘good’ or ‘nice’ or ‘great’ but none of these seems strong enough, or appropriate enough for what you just posted.Just fantastic and mindblowing blog keep it up..!!!

[Flights to India]

Yummy!
Pix are very good.
Indian sweets are worldwide famous for its taste. I just love Jalebi, thanks for sharing.

[Kalyan]

Aiyo is a Tamil term too :) Have you ever tried Bengali sweets? They are lighter than North Indian ones as they do not have ghee and are made with cottage cheese

[khana pakana in urdu]

Indian & Pakistani sweets are very famous and very know all over the world!