Assalamualaikum guys! I hope all of you are doing well in the event of the upcoming festive season. Well, on this post, I will tell a tale of Hari Raya Aidilfitri to all of you, dear readers! =)
When I was young, the celebration of Aidilfitri (one of the biggest celebration in Hegira’s calendar) is much more fun than we are today (given the situation that we’ve already grown up). Aidilfitri (or sometimes Eid-ul-Fitri in English language) is celebrated to mark the end of 30 days fasting month of Ramadan, and also regarded by others, to mark the winning of Muslims over infidels in the past years of Prophet Muhammad; peace be upon him (by the way readers, correct me if I’m wrong). In Malaysia, the tradition of celebrating one of the biggest festivities in my beloved country (followed by the Chinese New Year, Deepavali and etcetera) is quite different.
On the eve of the Eid, we will gather in mosques (the men usually does this, as women will stay at houses and prepares it for visiting guests the very next day) and we will start saying takbir, a type of prayer that worships Allah al-Mighty and also in some mosques, selawat , to pray for His messenger, Muhammad pbuh. After that, at night, the Malay men will prepare some lemang (which is glutinous rice, soaked in coconut milk and mixed with pinches of salt, then wrapped inside banana leaves and later, inserted through a hole of bamboo plant and be cooked over fire) which require great skill to cook and to control the strength of the fire and so on… I tried to cook it once and alas, I’ve made myself a burnt lemang! But I can assure you dear ladies; and gentlemen that it is a very fun and sweaty experience!
If the men cooked lemang, the women will prepare much, much more thing to be savoured in the morning. Among them are rendang, ketupat, kuah kacang and in Sarawak particularly, kelupis and some local delicacies such as sago in coconut milk with gula Melaka (but it is rarely prepared these days). Rendang is a type of main course that is for us Malaysian, too good not to be eaten! By using beef, or chicken, well usually beef, and it will be prepared with this ingredients (which I procured from my beloved mother and of course; with great difficulties because she’s busy ^_^) : coconut milk, asam keping, kerisik, lime juice or asam jawa’s juice and of course; a considerable amount of sugar, salt and so on. Fuhhhhh, that a list! Ketupat on the other hand is rice, wrapped in coconut leaves (which is woven and believe me ladies, it’s hard to be done!) and boiled till it’s ready. Well anyway guys, I actually slept rather late tonight (and I shouldn’t), so, as a matter fact, I would like to wish the Muslims all around the world, Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri and have a nice day tomorrow and always! =D
Write me. Keep biting.
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