Bold and exciting, her sandwich fillings read like toppings for pizza, gravies for spaghetti or snacks you’d likely tuck into at barbecues. And if you’re a vegetarian, you’ll find excellent Indian-inspired sandwich fillings as well.
In fact, this 42-year-old home chef has 21 different sandwich fillings to suit any preference from spicy onion sambal and green chutney mashed potato options to Western favourites like chicken Bolognese and creamy mushroom Carbonara.
“I’ve always loved devising new recipes. So, one day I thought about pairing my favourite dishes with these healthy snacks to see how it would turn out.
“Whenever I cooked a vegetarian chicken sambal dish at home, I would try to reimagine it as a sandwich,” she told FMT recently.
A sandwich lover herself, Malaarvili said it was tough finding sandwiches that had rich Indian flavours as its filling. So she decided to take things into her own hands – quite literally – by experimenting with recipes, and figuring out which was suitable to be made into a sandwich.
Over time, she perfected her sandwich-making skills, learning how to fix a soggy sandwich by finding just the right balance between the gravy and meat or vegetable filling.
She even mastered how to pack the perfect box for delivery by cutting the individual sandwiches just right so they fit perfectly.
“For me, it’s not just about how tasty they were, but also taking into account how presentable they are when you open and see that box of sandwiches,” she said.
Malaarvili said that her vegetarian sandwiches have even found their way into temples and gurudwaras for special prayers and other religious events. In fact, orders for the vegetarian flavours have consistently been pouring in thanks to her creativity in coming up with new recipes ever so often.
And one thing’s for sure, she doesn’t stinge on her filings. So, you can expect a good bread-to-filling ratio every time you take a bite.
While one might assume that cooking the fillings and assembling the sandwiches are time-consuming, Malaarvili begs to differ. She said she can cook a filling and assemble a box of 24 sandwiches in under 20 minutes. An impressive feat!
She credits this to using a food processor to help ease the tedious cooking process, and her own experience from catering for numerous baby showers, weddings and birthday parties.
In fact, Malaarvili also supplied sandwiches for South Indian singer Andrea Jeremiah when she held her concert in Malaysia last month. This year, she is swamped with almost daily orders for lunch get-togethers and office events.
FMT tried five of her bestsellers – Hawaiian chicken cheese, vegetarian chicken masala, BBQ chicken, chicken bolognese and creamy mushroom cheese.
The vegetarian chicken masala sandwich took number one spot for its lip-smacking flavours and spiciness.
The Hawaiian chicken cheese sandwich was a combination of minced chicken in tomato sauce, pineapple slices and shredded cheese. The slightly tangy undertone of the tomato sauce worked well with the salty cheese slices and made for a perfect snack.
If you’re a vegetarian and prefer something milder, choose the creamy mushroom cheese sandwich. The BBQ chicken sandwich meanwhile had a lovely caramelised barbecue flavour that was superb in a sandwich.
Prices per box of 24 sandwiches vary from RM40 to RM50 depending on the fillings.
Follow Malaarvili on Instagram and place your orders here.