Each year, Malaysians from all walks of life, irrespective of their ethnic origin and faith join hands to celebrate the Hari Raya Aidil Fitri together with their Muslims friends. This celebration that falls on the first day of Syawal (the 10th month of the Islamic calendar) is celebrated with great enthusiasm, especially after the Muslims had completed a month of fasting during Ramadan (the 9th month in the Islamic calendar).
Besides the sumptuous array of delicious food, songs and dances, this festive celebration inculcates the spirit of sharing, caring and forgiving. Similar to the Thanksgiving Day celebration, the Hari Raya Aidilfitri instills Muslims with the need to seek forgiveness and blessings from other fellow Muslims and friends. In this way, Muslims can fortify their relationships among their friends and relatives by choosing peace and harmony as their way of life.During this month-long celebration, Muslims will invite their relatives and friends over to their homes to join in the celebration and merriment. This special invitation – which is open to all visitors, irrespective of their race, creed and social status – is generally known as the “Open House” – a tradition that our foreign visitors find very fascinating. Primarily, the objective of the “Open House” is to create harmony and forge a better understanding among friends and relatives. This is the time of the year that you can sample the most delicious dishes from the traditional Malay culinary repertoire.
Being away from Malaysia for so long makes me reflect on many things in my life be it my root, my homeland Malaysia, my family, my friends and many celebrations. In the spirit muhibbah and Hari Raya our group of Malaysian ladies decided to cooked some traditional Hari Raya fares for our monthly meet up. We prepared rendang ayam (dried curry chicken) serunding (shredded beef) sayur lodeh (vegetable stew) nasi impit (pressed rice) lemang (glutinous rice) mee goreng, lychee and pineapple agar agar, kuah kacang (peanut sauce) and dodol. Here are some pictures of what we prepared to share it with you.
Nasi Impit (pressed rice) and Lemang (glutinous rice)
Sayur Lodeh (vegetable stew in coconut milk)
Kuah Kacang (peanut sauce)
Serunding Daging (spicy shredded beef) - thanks Zue for the serunding.
Rendang Ayam (dried chicken curry)
Mee Goreng (fried noodles)
Dodol (toffee-like delicacy made from glutinous rice flour, coconut milk and palm sugar)
Cookies - pandan cookies, mama carries and pineapple tarts (thanks Zue for the tarts)
Lychee and Pineapple Jelly
Even though we are not back in Malaysia but I don’t think we miss anything this year as we had a great time preparing some of the food and eating it. Needless to say, I'm grateful to be able to celebrate the season, not just with great food but with wonderful company in an environment of peace and love. Now we are anticipating for our November Deepavali celebration. Do come back to check out what we cook on that day ;)
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