Saya belum sempat perap sotong untuk makan malam, apatah lagi gaul salad untuk tetamu.

Both can be translated as didn’t have time, but the nuance is slightly different.

• belum sempat = haven’t had the chance / haven’t gotten around to yet
• tidak sempat = didn’t have time / couldn’t manage to

In this sentence, belum sempat suggests something was still intended, but the speaker had not managed to do it up to that point. It often sounds a bit softer and more natural in everyday speech.

So:

• Saya belum sempat perap sotong... = I haven’t had time to marinate the squid yet...
• Saya tidak sempat perap sotong... = I didn’t have time to marinate the squid...

The first one often implies not yet, while the second can sound more final.

Sempat is a very useful Malay word. It means something like:

• to have the time
• to have the chance
• to manage to do something before it is too late or before something else happens

So belum sempat perap sotong is not just about clock time; it also carries the idea of not managing to get it done.

Examples:

• Saya tak sempat makan. = I didn’t have time to eat.
• Dia sempat telefon saya. = He/She managed to call me.

After sempat, Malay normally puts the main verb directly, without to as in English.

So:

• sempat perap = had time to marinate
• sempat gaul = had time to toss/mix

This is normal Malay structure:

• Saya sempat makan. = I had time to eat.
• Kami tidak sempat balik. = We didn’t have time to go back.

You do not usually say sempat untuk perap here. That would sound less natural in this kind of sentence.

perap means to marinate or to leave food seasoned for a while before cooking.

So perap sotong means:

• marinate squid

Here:

• sotong = squid
• perap sotong = marinate the squid

This is a very natural food-related phrase in Malay.

Malay does not use articles like a, an, or the the way English does.

So sotong can mean:

• squid
• the squid
• some squid

The exact meaning depends on context.

In this sentence, an English translation would probably use the squid or just squid, but Malay itself does not need an article there.

This is very common:

• Saya beli roti. = I bought bread / some bread / the bread
• Dia masak ayam. = He/She cooked chicken / the chicken

untuk makan malam means for dinner.

It most naturally goes with perap sotong:

• perap sotong untuk makan malam = marinate squid for dinner

So the idea is:

• the squid is for dinner
• the salad is for the guests

Malay often places this kind of purpose phrase after the noun or verb phrase it belongs to.

apatah lagi means something like:

• let alone
• much less
• never mind

It introduces something that is even less likely or even harder to do than the first thing mentioned.

So the sentence means:

• I haven’t even had time to marinate the squid for dinner, let alone toss a salad for the guests.

This structure is very common in Malay when comparing two things, where the second one is presented as even more unlikely.

Examples:

• Berjalan pun susah, apatah lagi berlari.
  It’s hard enough just to walk, let alone run.

• Nak beli kereta pun tak mampu, apatah lagi beli rumah.
  I can’t even afford a car, let alone a house.

Malay often omits repeated subjects when they are already understood from context.

So:

• Saya belum sempat perap sotong..., apatah lagi gaul salad...

naturally means:

• I haven’t had time to marinate the squid..., let alone [I haven’t had time to] toss the salad...

The second subject and even part of the verbal idea are understood from the first clause.

You could say apatah lagi saya gaul salad, but that would usually sound less natural here unless you wanted special emphasis.

gaul means to mix, to toss, or to combine by mixing.

With food, especially salad, gaul is very natural. It suggests combining ingredients together, often with dressing or seasoning.

So:

• gaul salad = mix/toss the salad

In English, toss the salad is often the most natural translation in a cooking context.

You might also hear:

• buat salad = make a salad
• sediakan salad = prepare a salad

But gaul salad focuses specifically on the act of mixing it.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Malay nouns are often not marked for singular or plural unless needed. So tetamu can mean:

• a guest
• guests

In this sentence, English naturally uses guests because that sounds more likely in context, but Malay itself does not force the distinction.

If you want to make plurality clearer, Malay can do things like:

• tetamu-tetamu = guests
• para tetamu = the guests / guests in a more formal sense

But in everyday Malay, the simple noun is often enough.

Yes, literally it is made up of:

• makan = eat / meal
• malam = night

But together makan malam means dinner or evening meal.

This is a normal fixed expression in Malay, just like:

• sarapan = breakfast
• makan tengah hari = lunch
• makan malam = dinner

So although the literal pieces are transparent, you should learn makan malam as a standard phrase meaning dinner.

It is quite fixed in the sense that it usually introduces the second, stronger comparison.

Pattern:

• statement 1, apatah lagi statement 2

Example from your sentence:

• Saya belum sempat perap sotong untuk makan malam, apatah lagi gaul salad untuk tetamu.

That means:

• first thing: I didn’t even manage X
• second thing: much less Y

You generally would not move apatah lagi around freely. It works best as a connector leading into the even less possible idea.

Yes, it sounds natural and idiomatic.

A few things make it natural:

• belum sempat is a very common everyday expression
• perap sotong is normal kitchen/food vocabulary
• apatah lagi is a standard way to say let alone
• omitting the repeated subject before gaul salad is natural

A slightly more casual spoken version might use tak instead of belum or tidak, depending on the meaning the speaker wants. But as written, this sentence is perfectly good Malay.