Kambli’s Bubur Corner (“Bubur” means ‘porridge’) peddles traditional Indian-Muslim hot desserts from its 7-decades-old location on Jalan Dato’ Koyah in George Town, Penang.
The current stallholder of Kambli’s Corner is Hamid Hajamydin, 51, grandson of the founder, Nagore Meera. However, the ones serving us on that day are younger guys, so we surmised that they would be the 4th-generation of the family that runs this stall which started in 1948.
Boiled “gandum” (wheat) in coconut milk and sugar, served with glutinous rice. This is only offered on Fridays.
Kambli’s Corner is currently operated by the 4th-generation of the family and has been around for 68 years now.
Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays: Bubur Kacang Hijau (mung beans porridge).
Wednesdays: Bubur Pulut Hitam (black glutinous rice porridge), served with steamed white glutinous rice.
The stall is very popular with the locals, and has a lot of old regulars.
It’s sometimes called Bubur Terigu, especially in Penang and Malacca. I remembered encountering a similar dessert in a Cuban restaurant down at San Francisco’s Mission District a few years back and asked the chef what it was. He could only speak Spanish and very rudimentary English, but when he said, “Trigo”, I immediately realised that wheat must have been introduced by the Portuguese to Malacca in the 16th-century. So many Malay words have got Portuguese origins:
Wheat = Terigu (Malay)/Trigo (Portuguese)
Butter = Mentega (Malay)/Manteiga (Portuguese)
Cheese = Keju (Malay)Queijo (Portuguese)
Fork = Garfu (Malay)/Garfo (Portuguese)
Wheel = Roda (Malay/Portuguese)
Table = Meja (Malay)/Mesa (Portuguese)
Shirt = Kemeja (Malay)/Camisa (Portuguese)
Shoe = Sepatu (Malay)/Sapato (Portuguese)
Window = Jendela (Malay)/Janela (Portuguese)
Church = Gereja (Malay)/Igreja (Portuguese)
and many more.