AidilFitri ’08 – Raya Dishes (or Why I’m Feel So Bloated After Raya)

(R: Ketupat Nasi and L: Ketupat Palas)

Food is usually in abundance during Hari Raya at our household. Since everyone has their own favorite dish, my mum tries to make sure that we have one of each ready at the table for Raya morning. It’s almost tradition that we would always have 2 types of ketupat on the 1st day of raya, one being the usual ketupat nasi and the other being the ketupat palas which is made with glutinous rice and kidney beans.

(R - Rendang Daging & Ikan Masak Kicap, L: Ayam Masak Merah & Sambal Udang)

(Sayur Sambal Goreng)

Breakdown of who likes what – rendang daging is a must for everyone and my dad must have his daily fish dish so usually the Ikan Masak Kicap is his. My brothers love their Ayam Masak Merah and my sisters can’t do without Sambal Udang on Raya morning. Finally for me, I must have my Sayur Sambal Goreng – it wouldn’t be a Raya feast for me if it was not on the table. While it does look like a somewhat extensive spread, mum usually only cooks enough (with exception of the rendang) for the day with leftovers at most lasting until breakfast the following morning. I always wondered how she manage to do that even when we do sometimes get guest during the first day of AidilFitri.

(Must have plate on Raya morning)

With so much choices, I usually try to limit my plate only to the ketupat, rendang and sayur sambal goreng. Repeat the same plate for the next 3 or 4 times, you definitely get the main reason why I am in dire need of gymming after the Raya holidays!

(Raya cookies (clockwise): Pineapple Tarts, Chocolate Cookies, Chocolate Rice Crispies, Honey Corn Flakes, Dodol, Chocolate Chip Cookies)

Add to that the Raya cookies that we have at the house then the need becomes more urgent. My youngest sister is usually the person who makes all the cookies in our household having learnt the recipes from my mum and the older sister. We never really bothered with the more traditional cookies/sweetmeats other than the dodol since our family never really made them. We would usually buy the more traditionally cookies if we wanted them. The dodol however is a family tradition that we carried on and for this year, I had to make 3 batches of them thanks to a silly mistake on my part which made the first batch end up becoming more like rock candy rather than dodol. Thankfully the next 2 batches turned out ok or else we wouldn’t have dodol this year.

The Raya feast paled in comparison of having the family around for the holidays.