My Pre-Hari Raya Cooking 2013

Eid Mubarak or Hari Raya is the celebration after 1 month fasting for the Muslim. During the fasting months, Muslim are prohibited from eat and drink start from sunrise until the sunset time. Prior to the Eid Mubarak celebration, there will be some preparation has to be done earlier such as shopping for new cloths, making Hari Raya cookies, changing some furniture and many more. 

As I am living in Malaysia, or particularly in Johor (the southern part of the peninsular Malaysia), I will share about how we was our celebration for this year. I had done with my Hari Raya shopping few days before coming back to my hometown in Segamat, and what I can say is, there are sea of people in town crazily shopping. 

One day before the Hari Raya, normally the family members, especially women are very busy in kitchen to prepare the ingredients for the occasion. As in Johor, having Ketupat (Rice stuffed in the coconut leaf) is a must, besides Rendang Daging (Beef with spices), Ayam Masak Merah (Spicy Chicken with tomato puree), Kuah Lodeh (Vegetable and Tofu cooked with coconut milk) and Sambal Kacang (Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce). This year, I let my parents to be more relax and I will take charge the kitchen.

Well, to prepare those dishes is not that quick. This is what people say as the art of cooking Malay Traditional foods. Some dishes sometimes need a longer time to cook and we need to control the fire to avoid from burning the food in the cooking pan. Example, the Beef Rendang normally will take around 2 hours to cook and the Ketupat normally will be ready after 3 hours boiling on slow fire. 

It was an amazing Hari Raya for me start from Hari Raya shopping and Pre-Hari Raya Cooking. Next time, I will share more about the dishes served during Hari Raya, especially in Johorean style.