The perseverance of an ice cream seller who switched to making kuih sarang tebuan or honeycomb cookies as an alternative to earning income during Ramadan proved worthwhile when she received orders for 10,000 pieces.
Rosnanie Maliki, 37, said the delicious treat is made using rice flour, eggs, coconut milk, sugar and oil, but the process can be rather challenging to ensure the cookies are light and crispy.
“Besides the consistency of the batter, we also need to pay attention to oil temperature while frying because these are the factors that will keep the cookies crunchy and crispy despite being kept for days,” she told reporters when met at her home in Taman Agropolitan Rantau Manis here.
According to Rosnanie, the cookies were sold at RM15 per bottle of 50 pieces.
“This year, I need to prepare around 200 bottles of honeycomb cookies. I will prepare the batter at 8 am and finish frying them at 5 pm,” she explained.
Elaborating, she said the decision to sell the cookies was to cover the expenses during Ramadan and generate extra money for Eid preparation because her husband, Mohd Hassan Mat Zain, 49, suffers from liver problems and is unable to support their family.
Rosnanie also said that being a chronic diabetes patient was not an excuse for her not to find extra income, adding that she managed to prepare about 700 pieces of the honeycomb cookies in two weeks.
“Besides my neighbours, I receive orders from other areas such as Kuala Lah, Chiku and Kampung Limau Kasturi.
“Despite the high demand for the coming Hari Raya, I had to limit taking orders and close the bookings early due to health reasons,” she said, adding that she also had to juggle her time looking after a disabled child.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency
