In Kadayanallur, the village in Tamil Nadu where my relatives and many other Tamil Muslims in Singapore trace their roots, dried chilli or chilli powder was typically used in curries and gravies. This style of sambal was something Kitengi Ma encountered and adopted in Singapore. It entered our family kitchen three generations ago. From her Teochew neighbours, she also learnt about different noodles: kway teow (flat rice noodles made with a bit of tapioca for their bouncy texture), thin rice vermicelli, egg noodles and much more. My aunts say she favoured the springy, soft texture of rice vermicelli, allowing it to replace rice in certain dishes like Biryani and Kurma, which were typically eaten with rice before this replacement.  Over time, she began improvising out of availability. What started as a base of shallots, mustard seeds, dried chilli and curry leaves evolved with lemongrass, pandan and tofu. Since Kitengi Ma was cooking at Bukit Merah Primary School for children from multiple ethnic backgrounds, she wanted to create something nourishing and accessible, so she added chye …