Hooked on Asia’s tantalising flavours

1 Fiddler flanked by Tunku Khadijah (left) and Tunku Mukminah.2 Ayam masak kicap.3 Spicy sambal petai.4 Lamb kurma.5 Rendang tok and calamari in a creamy turmeric sauce.

WHEN Datuk Tunku Mukminah Jiwa started working at the Women’s Institute in 1958, one of the first things she did was to drive her Morris Minor to meet the women living in the rural areas and teach them how to cook.

Tunku Mukminah considered cooking a crucial life skill. Even a busy man like her uncle, who was Malaysia’s first prime minister, cooked. The late Tunku Abdul Rahman was said to have learned to cook during his student days in England. He continued to hone his culinary skills as a way to de-stress during the heyday of his political career.