Tumpi - fried pancake : Sarawakian or Bruneian?

Have you ever tried a Bruneian tumpi? If you haven't whenever you have a chance to see the word on the menu extended to you by a waitress ask for it. It could also be the cheapest item on the menu and it is worth every cent! Ask for a good curry to go with it and down it with a nice Kopi-o. If you order teh tarik it might be too sweet.

I am not too sure about the claim about it being truly Bruneian but being huge and appetising the only tumpi I have ever eaten is in Brunei. Furthermore it is available at good stores only.

A friend did confirm that she is sure tumpi is not available in most parts of Malaysia. However she said that it is found in some good longhouses in Sarawak where the creative housewives can make a beautiful rice flour based pancake. And they call it tumpi too. In the longhouses however it is served with condensed milk or just plain sugar. The longhouse tumpi is slightly smaller.

In the Brunei coffee shops it is a larger version - flat crispy and crunchy deep fried too and is usually served with a good chicken or beef curry in the morning.

I took the recipe from her and this is what you need:
500 gm plain flour + one tablespoon rice flour
5-6 tablespoon softened butter, or olive oil in a tub.

some salt, dissolved in some water

Method
Rub the butter or olive oil into the sifted flour with your fingers.
Add in a little bit of the water, and start kneading with your hands.
Add water slowly, add enough water so that the dough is smooth and elastic. If it seems to be a bit dry, add in some butter.


Divide the dough into round balls.
Flatten each ball into the size of a saucer and roll over and over again using a rolling pin.

Heat up some oil for deepfrying in a frying pan, and fry the tumpi until golden brown.



The longhouse version:

1. Pound (or blend) the newly harvested but soaked rice.
2. Add some egg whites and some cooking oil or planta margarine and beat well. Add some water and some wheat flour and a small teaspoon of kapur until you can make a sizeable dough. Make small balls out of your dough.
3. Let stand for about one hour. Flatten the balls into flat pancakes.
4. Deep fry in a large kuali.

What ever version you make it is a nice crispy pancake. You can also make it as large as you can and according to my friend....that depends on your natural skill!!

Cheers.