Cashing in on breaking fast

The Bendungan Hilir market in central Jakarta is undergoing a major revamp but its popularity as a destination for iftar (breaking fast) snacks remains unchanged.

The ongoing rehabilitation has not deterred vendors in the Bendungan Hilir (Benhil) market area from setting up stalls selling light iftar snacks, popularly known as takjil.

The street food vendors set up these stalls every year during the holy month of Ramadan to contribute to the religious and festive atmosphere by selling takjil, while also earning extra income for their families.

They sell a wide range of dishes, ranging from fried snacks like risoles (fried Indonesian spring rolls), fried tofu and tempe, desserts such as kolak (compote) serabi and ice fruit cocktails, to full meals including the favourite fried whole chicken.

Achmadyani, 31, is a seasoned player in the takjil business. He is a Bogor farmer who comes to Jakarta with his family every year for the Ramadan season. For the past 11 years, Achmadyani’s family has cooked large batches of fried snacks and prepared fruit cocktails to sell at the Benhil takjil market.

With an average price of 2,000 rupiah (Bt5), Achmadyani has always been able to sell most of the products. Aside from the all-time popular kolak and fried foods, savoury martabak (stuffed pancake) are also a big hit at his stall.

Despite the high number of vendors selling fried takjil appetisers each year, all the stalls seem to do well. Sigit, one of the stall holders, reckons it’s all down to organisation.

“People will be more attracted if they see that you are organised because it shows reliability and credibility,” he says gesturing towards the neatly arranged trays laid out on his stall, 

Location matters too, apparently. Vendors located further into the tent-covered area benefit from customers who prefer shopping in a cooler atmosphere. On the other hand, vendors who wish to pull in as many passers-by as possible opt to set up on the edge of the sidewalks.

Buyers visiting Benhil come from both near and far. Taking advantage of the summer break, Tessyanti Wijaya, 18, came with her family from Pekanbaru to celebrate Ramadan and explore Benhil’s takjil market. She says that her family was planning to buy some fried snacks and was particularly eyeing the classic fried tempe.

Takjil usually refers to the fried appetiser dishes, but vendor Eka, 32, also likes to sell full meals. “When you break the fast, you need to eat a full meal with your family too right? A lot of people who come here also consider buying chicken or vegetables and that’s why I choose to sell main courses as opposed to desserts or appetisers,” she explains. 

Some of the favourites at her stall are gulai otak (cow’s brain stew), gulai pakis (vegetable stew) and kikil (beef tendon curry).

Profitability depends on the number of customers coming to the area on a particular day. Usually, the number of customers reaches its peak between 4 and 5pm, when most people have just finished work and are buying food to take back either home or to their offices to carry out the buka bersama (breaking-the-fast together) tradition.

Regular customer Rini brought her co-worker Tamam along with her to Benhil to buy takjil snacks for their office’s breaking fast event later that day. Similarly, Sundari, 45, also came to the Benhil market in preparation to break fast at her office in Bank BTN.

“My friend recommended that I come to Benhil,” she says, “There’s so munch variety here.”