Little India is the cultural hub for the Indian community in Singapore. It was not originally planned as a designated area for the Indian community unlike Chinatown as well as Kampong Glam. However the life surrounding Serangoon Road led to the development of the Indian community there. Today Little India is one of Singapore's vibrant district.
To kick start my heritage trail of Little India, I began my journey at Tekka Market and was immediately blinded by the array of bright and shiny colours of clothing that was put on display. The beautifully embroidered punjabi suits, sarees, lehenga and salwar kameez caught my attention. Since Deepavali then was just around the corner, the shops displayed rows and rows of beautiful garments that was so captivating to the eyes of the beholder. Even though I did not enquire on the price of a punjabi suit. I guess the price of owning such a beautiful garment is still pretty much affordable.
Tekka Market is considered Singapore's culturally rich market where you can learn more about Singaporeans and our way of living. As I made my way down to the lower levels of Tekka Market, I could see other ethnic sellers doing their business as well as interacting comfortably with their customers. Each of the ethnic communities still maintain their unique way of life with their culinary cultures, so this market is a place to observe and learn more about life in Singapore. This is one good example of multiculturalism where one community is not just confined to their social group but is able to adapt and grow with people from other cultural backgrounds.
As I walked through the different hawker stalls in Tekka Market, I saw a wide array of delicious Indian cuisine being sold at affordable prices. In Singapore, Indian cuisine includes Tamil Muslim cuisine, South Indian as well as North Indian cuisines and various other regional traditions.
However a number of these dishes with roots in India have been adapted to incorporate culinary traditions from other communities in Singapore. The local forms of Indian food may be seen as localised or even regional variations of Indian food, or in some cases, a form of hybrid Indian-Singaporean cuisine. It is uniquely Singaporean and can never be found back in mainland India.
A number of the Indian dishes have been adopted as dishes by other communities and is now a staple food for daily consumption. The common example being curry. Some other examples of popular local Indian Singaporean dishes include:
1) Nasi biryani - Popular Indian Muslim dish of saffron rice and meat. It is a common dish in both Indian and Malay communities and is an essential/ core dish served at Malay Weddings. This showcases the impact of ethnic influences on the development of food in the local context.
2) Curry - The basic Indian vegetable or meat gravy. Curry is a diversified dish that has been adopted by various racial groups with the inclusion of certain ingredients to fit their taste buds. It is now ubiquitous in local Chinese and Malay 'traditional' cuisine.
A Peranakan example is Laksa, whose name derives from the Sanskrit for 'hundred thousand'. A Eurasian example is Devil curry, while a Chinese example is Chilli crab.
3) Fish head curry - Iconic Singapore dish, invented by Indians (specifically one Mr. Marian Jacob Gomez, from Kerala) for the Chinese palate which values textures. Not found in India and is a uniquely Singaporean dish .
4) Indian Rojak - Salad of deep fried battered potatoes, eggs, seafood, tofu and other items. Served with a hot and sweet chilli sauce. The dish does not exist in India and is unique to Singapore and its nearby region such as Penang.
5) Indian Mee goreng - Chinese yellow noodles, prepared 'Indian style' and fried with spices, minced meat, green peas and potatoes.
6) Murtabak - Roti Prata stuffed with minced chicken, mutton, beef or sardines.
7) Roti john - A split, panfried baguette topped with egg, minced mutton and onions, and served with ketchup. There is also a Malay version of Roti John which uses minced beef or chicken meat instead as toppings.
8) Roti Prata - 'Singapore's answer to the croissant'. Due to varying taste buds, different versions of roti prata has been created to include other ingredients from other communities such as chinese or caucasians. Variations include cheese prata, chicken floss prata, red bean prata, prata benedict, roti tissue as well as roti plaster. The evolution of prata reflects the impact of global influences on the development of local food.
The different adaptations of Indian cuisine to incorporate unique flavours from other racial groups shows how different ethnic and global influences affect the development of food in the Indian community. This hybrid of Indian - Malay - Chinese cultural influences is what makes the dish unique to Singaporeans.
As we all know, Indian cuisine is packed with strong and rich flavour due to the abundant use of herbs and spices during the cooking process. The most important and frequently used spices and flavourings in Indian cuisine are whole or powdered chilli pepper, black mustard seed, cardamom, cumin , turmeric, asafoetida , ginger, coriander, and garlic.
One popular spice mix is garam masala, a powder that typically includes seven dried spices in a particular ratio, including black cardamom, cinnamon, clove, cumin, black peppercorns, coriander seeds and anise star.
Each culinary region has a distinctive garam masala blend—individual chefs may also have their own. Some leaves commonly used for flavouring include bay leaves, coriander leaves, fenugreek leaves, and mint leaves. The use of curry leaves and roots for flavouring is typical of Gujarati and South Indian cuisine. Sweet dishes are often seasoned with cardamom, saffron, nutmeg, and rose petal essences.
Some of the herbs or spices mentioned above such as bay leaves, coriander leaves, nutmeg, cumin, cinnamon are commonly used in Western cooking till today. These ingredients were adopted into Western cooking as a means of flavouring their otherwise bland food. India used to be under the British colony from 1858 to 1947, thus some elements of Indian cuisine might have influenced certain aspects of Western Culinary through the addition of these herbs. It will not be an exaggeration to say that spices were one of the reasons that Europeans began colonising parts of India.
While exploring the streets of Little India, I came across the Indian Heritage Centre. It is a cultural centre and museum in Singapore that showcases the culture, heritage and history of Indian Singaporeans. I compiled a video which contain snippets of my learning journey to Malay Heritage Centre as well as to Indian Heritage Centre.
I was also pleasantly surprised to find a brightly coloured building in Little India. The House of Tan Teng Niah is a colourful 2-storey villa dating back to 1900. Built in 1900, the former house of Tan Teng Niah is the last surviving Chinese villa in Little India.
It embodies an often overlooked story of the days when small Chinese industries operated alongside the cattle and rattan businesses at Little India. Tan Teng Niah was a towkay (Chinese businessman of good standing) who owned several sweet-making factories along Serangoon Road that used sugarcane to produce sweets. Behind the house, Tan had a rubber smoke-house for drying rubber which used the by-products of sugarcane as fuel for its furnace.
Located on Kerbau Road, it is one of the few remaining Chinese structures in Little India that were built during the colonization of Singapore. The local community is responsible for the rainbow of colours that the House of Tan Teng Niah is so famous for, as well as its renovation and upkeep. It is undoubtedly popular among tourists namely because of its unusual facade that is synonymous with the Peranakan community.
The house was restored and conserved in the 1980s for commercial use, and the restoration project was awarded the Singapore Institute of Architects Honourable Mention in 1991.
Last but not least, when you are in Little India, you simply cannot miss the beautiful murals/ street art located in different parts of the town. It showcases the unique character and flavour associated with the Indian culture.
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