By Azmie Lim
Ramadan bazaar vendor offers 36 dishes daily
LAHAD DATU: More than 20 years of experience as a trader at Ramadan bazaar here has taught Sitti Permah Sahid about customers’ tastes.
Sitti said she provided different side dishes everyday, according to the available cooking ingredients at the market to give diversity to her customers.
She said she would cook about 36 types of dishes everyday and each dish would be cooked with fresh ingredients to maintain the food quality.
“I would go to the market at about 10am everyday and start cooking about 11am with the help of my children.
“After cooking, we would take a short rest and start to open our stall at 3.30pm,” she said, adding that she would always uphold the cleanliness of her stalls and food.
Sitti, who is a mother of six, and selling various dishes, including traditional and modern dishes, said the most wanted dish was the ‘Kerabu Mangga’.
Sitti said she came up with the idea of selling dishes instead of local cakes as most of her friends were working mothers who had no time to cook.
“Most of my loyal customers are those night-shift workers, working mothers and also bachelors who prefer to buy the dishes than to cook,” she said with a little laugh.
Sitti said she had also increased her cooking knowledge to ensure her dishes would suit her customers’ tastes.
She also sells drinks and cakes so that her customers can have everything there.
She said some people hated to wander around the Ramadan bazaar due to the crowd, smoke and sometime hot days.
“They prefer to buy everything at one stall to avoid wasting time and tiring themselves,” said the 50-year-old woman.
Sitti said selling at the Ramadan bazaar would not only enable her to generate income for the Hari Raya Aidilfitri preparation, but it would also enable her to meet people and to fulfil her promise to her customers.
She said she found selling at the Ramadan bazaar satisfying, especially when her customers kept coming back.
Sitti expressed hope that business this year would be better.
“I hope with the change of government, we can see a better economic condition so that I can continue to cook more dishes for my customers,” she added.