But then again..

What is hari raya without ketupat (rice cake) , rendang like beef,chicken, duck, or lamb, slowly cooked in coconut milk and with some fresh herbs like galangal, lemon grass, ginger, tumeric roots, shredded tumeric leaves and also the lime leaves, using my mom recipe, she will add kerisik, a toasted coconut paste, kuah kacang (peanut sauce also known as satay sauce) and sayur lodeh (vegetables in coconut sauce), the vegeatables are aubergine, long bean, carrot, turnip, shredded cabagge and also some dried tofu and mung bean vermicelli.


Almost every houses visited on the first day of hari raya (Eid) in Malaysia, Singapore and maybe Indonesia, normally will seerves this to the guests. And in our house, nothing change either, the tradition still continue and I hope one day, my children will continue this tradition.


And just imagine after the 4th house! You'll be promise to yourself, that's it, no more ketupat for the rest of the year!


But then again....

Recipe for Sayur Lodeh :

Ingredients:

2 tbsp dried prawn *

2 onion *

4 cloves garlic *

1 piece thumb size galangal *

1 piece thumb size ginger *

2 stalks lemongrass, bruised

1 tsp turmeric powder

200 g cabbage, sliced

1/2 carrot, julienne

100 g long beans or green beans, cut into 5cm length

2 aubergines, halved and cut into 5cm length

2 pieces fried tofu, cut into bite-size pieces (optional)

1 small packet of mung bean vermicelli, soaked and rinsed (optional)

2 pieces of firm tofu, cut to pieces (optional)

400 ml coconut milk

600 ml water

3 tbsp cooking oil

Salt to taste

Method:

Use a food processor or mortar and pestle to pound the * ingredients.

Heat oil in a medium size pot on medium heat.

Add shallot & garlic paste and fry until slightly brown and fragrant

Add lemongrass and turmeric powder and continue to fry for a further minute

Add the vegetables (cabbage, beans, carrot and aubergine) and stir until well coated with the spice paste

Add coconut milk and water. Bring to a boil and lower down the heat to a slow gentle simmer until vegetables are almost cooked. Add tofu and mung bean vermicelli, cook a further 2-3 minutes tofu and is just cooked

Add salt to taste

Serve warm with ketupat, lontong or steamed rice.