Malaysian Punjabi family in Serendah has been making barfi for over 50 years

Kashver helps to oversee the quality and the taste of the sweetmeats. Photos: The Star/Faihan Ghani

The sleepy town of Serendah is an easy escape for folks in the Klang Valley and surrounding towns, popular because of its quiet charm and tourist attractions like the Serendah Waterfalls.

However, for over half a century now, there’s been another attraction has been drawing scores of visitors to the quiet town: Barfi, a sweet Indian treat.

For more than 50 years, a home business born in Serendah, Selangor has been supplying the sweet candy to a never-ending flow of sweet-lovers.

From a make-shift roadside stall, Famous Serendah Barfi (FSB) has become a bonafide family business spanning two generations.

From a distance, the old bungalow at No. 1 Station Road looks like any ordinary home. But it is so much more than a home – it is the headquarters of FSB.

And, in the days leading up to today’s Vaisakhi celebrations, the traffic at No. 1 has been particularly busy, with people driving by to pick up their precious orders for barfi as well as other sweets that the family makes.

“When special occasions like this and Deepavali draw near, the queue can sometimes stretch on for two hours,” says Amrita Ahluwalia, who runs FSB now, with her two children.

Vaisakhi is an auspicious celebration observed by the Sikh community to commemorate the birth or establishment of Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the 10th Sikh Guru in 1699.

Amrita, 53, says that she’s had to put the production of their sweet treats into high gear in the last few weeks; she and her team of four workers have had to work around the clock to fulfill orders for their sought-after sweet treats.

The family business has been operating for over half a century and thousands have come from all over to purchase the delicious sweetmeats from this same wooden window in their home.

No prizes for guessing their most popular sweet – barfi, a soft, milk-based fudge.

“In the last two weeks, we have been working close to 15 hours a day to ensure we complete our orders on time.

“All our sweetmeats like barfi, jalebi and gulab jamun are made daily. We have received many orders from outstation and even Singapore, and we ensure our fresh items are posted out as fresh as possible. While it’s tiring, it’s a nice kind of busy and a period we enjoy very much,” said Amrita.

Barfi needs to be cooked for several hours until it reaches the right fudge-like consistency.Amrita’s in-laws Mender Singh and his wife, Mahindar Kaur, started the business in 1972.

According to Amrita, FSB started, as an “accidental experiment in the kitchen”, by her mother-in-law.

Barfi is always a sought-after sweet treat served during Punjabi religious festivals, baby showers, and weddings and Mahinder used to experiment in her kitchen, to come up with her own recipe for the popular candy.

“My mother-in-law’s barfi turned out delicious and soon, it became a big hit among the family and friends,” said Amrita, adding that people started asking Mahinder if they could order her tasty sweets.

“She then got the idea to start a business venture making traditional sweets. My in-laws set up a stall right opposite their home and they began selling her barfi from there,” said Delhi-born Amrita who has lived in Serendah since the 1990s after marrying Pritpal Singh, Mender and Mahinder’s son.

Barfi, coconut candy and ladoo are part of festivals and celebrations in the Sikh community.

Soon, Mahindar’s reputation spread, and people started ordering her homemade sweets for special occasions.

“Those days, since we were on the main trunk road, many travellers would stop by our stall (which operated in a Chinese shop opposite our home) to buy her freshly made barfi. Later on, they decided to move their business back to their home,” Amrita shared.

Amrita points to an old wooden window of the bungalow, explaining that this was where the business operated from decades ago.

“This window has become very famous now, and it has seen numerous coats of paint.

“And we are still selling our sweets through it today.”

Amrita (second from left) is determined to keep the tradition of making Punjabi sweetmeats alive and she is teaching her children Kashver (third from left) and Simran (left) the importance of preserving their heritage.

Continuing a family legacy

Amrita took over the sweet business after Pritpal passed away in 2016. The widow was initially reluctant to carry on the family business as she was anxious about whether she would be able to carry on the family’s legacy.

“It’s a big responsibility to carry the name of FSB on my shoulders. So many customers have walked into our shop, and I hear comments like, ‘You know, we were five years old when we came here with our parents, and today we are coming here with our children’.

“It just warms my heart to hear these stories. I have realised it’s not just about the barfi... the whole purpose is bringing smiles and happiness to people. Somewhere within this bigger picture, I found my purpose in continuing this legacy.”

Amrita says that the secret to making the most delicious sweets is using “only the freshest and highest quality ingredients”.

They start their production at 7.30am when the buffalo milk supply arrives. Fresh milk – obtained from different sources around the Klang Valley and Negri Sembilan – is the key ingredient in her sweet treats.

Barfi is always a sought-after sweet treat served during Punjabi religious festivals, baby showers, and weddings.Barfi is made using just two ingredients – milk and sugar.

The milk is stirred continuously on a low flame until it thickens and turns into khoya (a thickened milk solid), the base of many Indian sweets. Next, sugar is added to the mixture to give it a rich and creamy texture. It is cooked until it reaches the right, fudge-like consistency.

“We are a small team of very few people, but we work very hard.

“It is a labour-intensive task as everything is done by hand. Lots of love has to go into making these sweets,” explained Amrita, who has hired workers from India to help with the business.

Amrita’s spacious work area has several large cast iron kadhais or Indian woks that are placed over gas stoves.

This is where the magic happens – where the famous barfi and other sweet treats like ladoo (sweetened balls made from gram flour, sugar syrup and ghee), kaju katli (cashew nut barfi) and kalakand (a creamy delicacy made from paneer or cottage cheese, sugar and flavoured with cardamom) are made.

It requires skill to make these circular-shaped jalebis in piping hot oil.

The old fashioned aluminium milk churns that they use certainly evoke childhood memories for boomers and Gen X Malaysians; and for younger folks, these add to the charm of the setup.

At a far corner of her work space, a worker prepares jalebi by deep-frying a batter made from all-purpose flour and yoghurt.

First, the batter is poured into a squeeze bottle or a piping bag with a thin nozzle. Next, the batter is squeezed out directly into hot oil in a spiral shape, and deep-fried until it turns golden brown.

The fried jalebi is then soaked in a sugar syrup flavoured with saffron and cardamom to give it its characteristic sweet and aromatic taste.

The tradition lives on

These sweets are not just delicious but they represent part of their rich cultural heritage that Amrita hopes to pass on to her children, Kashver Singh, 28, and Simran Kaur, 24.

She is determined to keep the family business going and their cultural traditions alive and is teaching her children the importance of preserving their heritage.

Both her children have full-time jobs in the city, and they can only assist with their family business on their days off. On weekends, Kashver, the eldest grandchild in the family, helps his mother oversee the quality and the taste of the sweetmeats.

He is lucky, and thankful, to have learnt the tricks of the trade from his grandfather before the latter passed away in 2018.

Ladoo (sweetened balls made from gram flour, sugar syrup and ghee) another must-have during Indian festivals.

Kashver has the very important job of ensuring that the quality of the sweets remain the same, keeping true to his grandparents’ standards.

Simran oversees the marketing and promotions on their Facebook page (Famous Serendah Barfi, Malaysia). In the last few months, Simran has introduced a new product to the mix – homemade kulfi (traditional Indian ice cream) – to diversify their offerings.

“The key to ensuring the flavour stays the same is to ensure the process stays the same,” she said.

“I think the next generation must keep the legacy alive. My grandparents built it from scratch; my granddad toiled over this business for decades until he made it to what it is. I hope they will be proud that we can continue and keep the quality consistent,” Kashver said.

As she tends to her bustling home-based business, Amrita often thinks about the role that she and her family will play in keeping the legacy of her family’s sweet business alive for many years.

“Barfi is not just a piece of sweet. It is a piece of happiness, celebration and a piece of our tradition. It’s part of our culture,” she concludes.