by Norah faith

Created on: April 04, 2009

How to Throw a Hari Raya Feast

Every year, twice a year, Muslims in the Indonesian and Malay speaking world, celebrate Hari Raya. Hari Raya translated literally means "Great Day" or "Grand Day". This is a national holiday in both Malaysia and Indonesia. Everyone stays home from school and work on this day and prepares for the feast.

The Hari Raya feast is made up of several different traditional Asian dishes. Here is a list of some of these meals and there descriptions:

Rendang

Rendang is a meat dish made of beef. Some say it resembles a curry, but it really doesn't. A properly prepared Rendang is nothing like a curry. For rending a "Bumbu" is prepared. Bumbu means spice mix. The spice mix is placed in a wok along with the meat and sated lightly. Then coconut milk is added and the meat is left to simmer in this mixture until all the liquid is gone. This leaves a dry, but very tasty, meat dish.

Ketupat Nasi

Nasi, or rice, is a major part of a meal in Indonesia and Malaysia. On Hari Raya a special rice dish is made. This dish is called Ketupat. Ketupat is a square shaped box that is woven out of banana leaves. The uncooked rice is prepared and stuffed into the hand made Ketupat cases and then dropped into a pot of boiling water.

The rice then cooks with in the banana leaf casing. When the Ketupat is done it is set out to cool. Ketupat is served exactly as it is when you take it out of the pot, banana leaves and all. When you want to eat the rice, you peel away the banana leaves.

Sate Kambing

Sate is also known around the world as "Kebab". Kambing means goat. This is a Goat Sate dish. The meat is cut into cubes and seasoned. It is then placed on thin bamboo sticks and roasted over hot coals made of coconut shells. A peanut sauce is then prepared and drizzled over the Sate Kambing.

Kambing Guling

The closest translation that you can get for Kambing Guling is barbequed goat. It is not exactly barbeque, but it is similar in taste. This goat meat is prepared with a spice mix and a lot of Worcestershire sauce.

The meat and spice mix are all put in a sauce pan and browned. Once the meat is 2/3 cooked, it is removed and placed in the oven to bake the rest of the way. When it is done the taste resembles barbeque. It is very delicious.

Kue Kastengel

A Hari Raya feast always has many different sweets and deserts. One of the most common is Kue Kastengel. This pastry is made of flour, butter, and eggs. The dough is made and shaped into several 3 inch long and one inch wide pieces. Grated

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