As one draws closer, a fragrant, mouth-watering aroma fills the air. People are queuing up outside the shop with one goal in mind: to grab their fill of delicious buns and bread rolls before they sell out.
The array of baked goods at Kilang Roti Mokhtar is unlike any other. These are made traditionally and baked in an age-old brick oven fuelled by firewood and coconut shells.
The soft, sweet texture of the buns, with their subtle smoky aroma of wood fire, keeps customers coming back for more.
It’s no surprise that the bakery, which was founded in 1949, has stood the test of time despite competition posed by various brands that have entered the market over the years.
It is now run by 62-year-old Mokhtar Ahmad Mohamad Taqi, who inherited the bakery from his late father, Mohammad Taqi Habib. Mokhtar has not only preserved his father’s original recipe but also his baking techniques.
“Perhaps this is the secret behind why our bread products continue to be in high demand,” he told Bernama recently, referring to the woodfire oven.
Mokhtar begins his work day early in the morning by preparing the dough before lighting the traditional oven. The fire is allowed to turn into embers before the oven is ready.
The bakery, he said, was purchased by his late uncle, Abdul Kadir Habib, in 1949 after he migrated to Malaya from Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, India. Mokhtar’s father took over the business after Abdul Kadir passed away – and the oven is the very same one his uncle and father had used.
“This oven was already here when my uncle bought the bakery, so I don’t know its exact age. It is said this bakery was initially operated by someone else since around 1912,” Mokhtar added.
Standing at 1.8m high and 4.5 metres wide, the oven can hold six to eight trays of buns, or about 400 pieces, at any one time.
“It usually takes about 20 minutes for the buns to be perfectly done,” he said, explaining that traditionally baked breads tend to be softer and more fragrant than those made in modern ovens.
Mokhtar, who began helping his father run the bakery when he was 21, said he also avoids using preservatives, relying only on basic ingredients like wheat flour, margarine, sugar and yeast.
To make 450 buns, he uses one sack of flour, 2kg of margarine, 4kg of sugar, and 200g of yeast. The entire process of preparing the dough and baking takes at least six hours.
His wife Norhasimah Amir, 57, and two of their seven children assist him at the bakery. He said his two sons are interested in continuing the family legacy.
According to Mokhtar, when his father had run the business, the bakery had produced only roti Benggali, the classic white loaf sold mainly by Indian-Muslim bread vendors.
“My father would ride his bicycle to nearby villages to sell the bread,” he recalled.
“There was one time he was unwell and asked me to sell the bread instead, but I didn’t manage to sell a single loaf. I was confused – why didn’t anyone buy from me?
“When I got home, my father told me it was because I was cycling too fast and the villagers didn’t even have a chance to call me over. It turned out Father would only push the bicycle, not ride it, whenever he went out to sell bread!” Mokhtar said with a chuckle.
Kilang Roti Mokhtar now makes roti Benggali only upon request as it requires a longer baking time. The bakery focuses instead on producing buns with coconut, kaya, red bean paste, and cream fillings. It also makes sesame rolls, hard rolls and plain rolls.
Prices range from RM1 for each bun with filling to RM7 for a pack of 10 hard rolls. Mokhtar said the rising cost of raw ingredients has forced him to increase prices slightly.
“In 2016, we could still sell our buns for 20 sen, 40 sen or RM1.40, depending on the type. Still, they remain affordable,” he said.
Kilang Roti Mokhtar
1, Kampung Masjid Lama,
Kampung Manggis,
35800 Slim River, Perak
Business hours: 11am-3pm daily (closed on Fridays)