I have written about Burbur Lambuk several times before (see It’s Burbur Lambuk time again!), but we are in the holy month of Ramadan so it is hard to ignore this topic. Traditionally, mosques throughout the country will be making this meal to distribute to their local communities for breaking of the fast at sunset. Today I accompanied the Malaysian Red Crescent to Sri Stulang Laut and had an opportunity to observe the preparation of this food from the beginning. I had seen it prepared on a small scale back in 2018, but today they were going to feed 3,000!!!
First you heat up a huge metal pot, then get the oil/ghee hot and add sliced shallots, garlic, and ginger, and stir with your favourite wooden paddle. Then add the washed rice and continue as local custom requires. You see, every State in Malaysia has its own version of Burbur Lambuk, and there are regional differences even within States.
I was hoping to keep track of all the ingredients, but this was a very busy kitchen and now was not the time to ask! But I spotted yellow split peas, black-eyed beans, chopped green veg, cinnamon sticks, packets of chilli sauce, salt, and lots of coconut milk. And extra protein came in the form of chicken, beef, or prawns. No purely vegetarian option here.
The mixture starts off creamy-coloured, and progresses to a red/brown colour as the chilli sauce is added. Regular stirring is required to prevent the rice sticking to the bottom of the pot, and this is really quite hard work.
I was trying to decide who was in charge here? After all, there were seven vats and they had to be started in a staggered manner so that the contents of one pot could be put into plastic pots while another pot was still cooking. There was no timer anywhere, no cooking thermometer, no weighing scales, no schedule to follow, just years of experience gathered under a small canopy on a very very hot morning.
The whole atmosphere here was one of calm as everyone seemed to know what to do. Occasionally someone might shout out to watch a pot, and while the women seemed in charge of adding ingredients to the pots, and the men seemed to do more of the carrying of sacks of rice, and stirring the food, all these roles were interchangeable.
My collegues from the MRC stepped in to help portion out the hot porridge. Then others added the finishing touches of fried garlic and chopped chives, and it was time to get everything prepared for the arrival of the sponsors and the lucky recipients of this delicious smelling Burbur Lambuk.
Today’s event was taking place outside the Pasaraya Songmart Sri Stulang and opposite the Surau Nurul Falah Taman Sri Stulang.
This year, Songmart decided to sponsor and organise an event much larger than they had previously done in 2019. With the support of Ms. Adeline Tan (Operations Director) and Mr. David Lui (Operations Manager Kluang) [shown in photo left], Mr. Manivannan Perumal, Manager of this Songmart store (second from left in group photo below) was assigned the task of putting this whole event together.
It takes a lot of organizational skills to put an event like this together, and Mr. Manivannan Perumal’s hard work paid off on the day as everything seemed to progress seemlessly. The cooking team, which worked so efficiently, was outsourced and funded by Songmart to produce these 3,000 pots of Burbur Lambuk. But Mr. Perumal oversaw everything and I’m sure the local community were grateful for all his hard work done.
Mr. Perumal was also supported today by members of the National Committee for Community Service & Health, Malaysian Red Crescent (MRC), and other groups/organizations such as Ahli Majis Bandaraya Johor Bahru, KRT Taman Sri Stulang, and Infinite Inspired. While everyone baked in the heat of Malaysia and the fires from under the cooking pots, we did get a brief cool period as the rains came. But everyone just carried on preparing the food and doing what had to be done.
And just like everyone else, Mr. Perumal and his staff wanted to contribute with their turn at stirring the pot!
By 2 pm it was time to start serving up the hot pots of Burbur Lampuk to the queue of people waiting outside the Songmart shop. On the right we see Mr. Perumal giving a box containing 200 portions of Burbur Lambuk to a member of the fire department in Tebrau.
In the photo below is Y.Bhg, Datuk Yahya Ja’afar (member of local council) on the left, and the familiar face of Dato’ Haji Mohd Rashidi bin Haji Mohd Noor (MRC), giving 200 portions of Burbur Lambuk to Rohingya families in Kangkar Tebrau.
Here are off duty members of Balai Polis Larkin (Larkin Police Station) helping out, and taking some pots of Burbur Lambuk for their mates.
Some 300 portions were collected by a representative from Hospital Sultanah Aminah (the gentleman in stripped shirt).
And here we see some grateful members of the local community receiving delicious Burbur Lambuk….
The MRC took 250 portions to distribute to the homeless and others, and 50 portions went to students and staff of the Princess Elizabeth School for the blind. The remainder were distributed to the Peyanyang Welfare Organization, JB, and the residents around Taman Sri Stulang Laut. Each of the pots was labelled to identify its contents and the gift from the MRC, and a sticker with a message saying: Sincere contribution from Pasaraya Songmart Sri Stulang, Ramadhan Greetings.
And yes, I took my turn in stirring the Burbur Lambuk! I can confirm that it was hard work and the chef was happy to take the wooden paddle from me and carry on doing it properly!
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