History

Nasi kandar takes its name from the kandar pole Tamil Muslim traders used to balance rice and curry pots as they walked George Town's docks in the 1800s. Hameediyah moved the trade indoors on Campbell Street in 1907 and is recorded by the Malaysia Book of Records as the country's oldest nasi kandar restaurant, while Line Clear's open-air alley off Jalan Penang, running around the clock, made the format a national obsession. Ordering is a spoken art: name your rice, your protein, and say banjir if you want every curry to flood the plate.

Common allergens: Varies by curry; commonly dairy and shellfish

Make it at home

Yield Serves 4Hands-on 50 minTotal 1 hr 30 minDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 600g chicken pieces on the bone
  • 3 tablespoons meat curry powder mixed to a paste with water
  • 2 onions, sliced; 4 cloves garlic and 4cm ginger, pounded
  • 2 sprigs curry leaves
  • 200ml coconut milk
  • 2 tomatoes, quartered
  • 1 tablespoon tamarind paste
  • 8 okra, blanched
  • Steamed white rice for four
  • Oil and salt

Method

  1. Fry onions, garlic, ginger and curry leaves in oil until golden. Add the curry paste and fry until the oil splits out.
  2. Add chicken, coat well, then add coconut milk, tomatoes, tamarind and a cup of water. Simmer 40 minutes uncovered.
  3. Season with salt; the gravy should be loose enough to flood rice, not cling like a dry curry.
  4. Serve a mound of rice, lay chicken and okra alongside, then ladle gravy over everything, mixing two spoonfuls from different corners of the pot if you have them.
  5. Eat with your hand or a spoon, mixing as you go; the point is the blend, not the separation.

Tip from the editors. Real stalls mix several days-deep curries on one plate; at home, make the gravy a day ahead so it deepens overnight before you flood the rice.

Where to eat nasi kandar

Nasi kandar in Penang

Line Clear Nasi Kandar ★ 4.3

Malaysian$george-townDaily 00:00-24:00, open 24 hoursUntil Open 24 hoursCash only

Line Clear Nasi Kandar never closes its alley off Jalan Penang, which makes it Penang's undisputed default answer to hunger at three in the morning.

Try: Nasi kandar with mixed curry

Tip: The 02:00 crowd is half taxi drivers, half clubbers; curries thin out overnight so take whatever the ladler suggests.

177 Jalan Penang, 10000 George Town, Penang

Deens Maju Nasi Kandar ★ 4.5

Malaysian$george-townOpens midday daily; the queue forms before opening and curries sell down by late evening

Deens Maju is the nasi kandar Penang locals queue for, a midday-opening Jalan Gurdwara canteen where the ayam goreng line often wraps the block.

Signature: Ayam goreng nasi kandar, Bendi curry

Tip: The queue moves faster than it looks; go earlier in the service for the full spread of curries before favourites sell out.

170 Jalan Gurdwara, 10300 George Town, Penang

Hameediyah ★ 4.4

Malaysian$george-townDaily 10:00-22:00

Hameediyah has served nasi kandar on Campbell Street since 1907 and holds the Malaysia Book of Records listing as the country's oldest, a Penang icon.

Signature: Murtabak, Kari ayam nasi kandar

Tip: Order the murtabak from the front griddle plus one curry over rice; the air-conditioned annexe a few doors down has seats.

164A Campbell Street, Georgetown, Penang

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