Raya Shopping

Is raya shopping necessary? After spending 4 years in a foreign land, we didn't bother to do any Raya shopping. I didn't put in any budget to buy clothing for my kids. Is it really necessary to have a change of wardrobe for Raya. My family doesn't have a specific time for shopping. We shop and buy stuff when we feel like it...I would say it's a year round thing...

We buy a change of outfits during the Easter holidays, or Boxing Day. I must admit that I have plenty of clothing, mostly tops which I have yet to wear. I have unused handbags and shoes which are waiting eagerly to be "shown off".

So why do Raya shopping? No answer...

For this year's Raya, I sent a set of baju kurung and baju melayu to the tailor, not because it's for Raya, but because hubby needs a baju melayu for work on Fridays, along needs one for his univ clothing, anga needs one as most of his baju melayus are getting small. Ain doesn't have any baju kurung at all. The ones that she used to have were small, and when we got home in April, I made (forced???) my nieces donate their old kurungs/kebayas to my daughter. Knowing that she doesn't quite like wearing baju kurung, why bother buy more for her? One should be enough! As for me, I sent 5 cotton materials to the tailor for new baju kurungs. Well, for raya is one...but most importantly I'm getting prepared to get some outfits when I return to work in November. Well, what can I say...I'm getting bigger each day! :)

Dendeng, Kuzi & Cucuq

When the clock strikes 12, you start thinking what to cook for Iftar. Sometimes I just feel like heading to the Bazar Ramadhan and get our cooked food there, but they are always not up to my standard. I'm not a picky eater but at times you can tell that the food isn't fresh. Some of my favourite blogs shared great cooking tips and recipes. Blogs like tiffinbiru.com, cooking with marina mustafa and from intan's kitchen gave me heaps of cooking ideas. For today's iftar, I used Azlita's recipe of Dendeng Daging & Marina Mustafa's kuzi but made a few amendments. I am the type of cook who doesn't use a standard measurement. I normally "campak-campak" the ingredients into the pot and cook based on my gut feeling. So, here's the recipe.

Cucur Udang ala Utara (hubby's favourite)

Cucur Udang

Enough flour

2 teaspoon of rice flour

Egg

Sesedap Rasa

Baking powder

Salt

Yellow Colouring

Prawns

Chives

Bean Sprouts

Water for mixing the ingredient

Kuah Kacang

Peanuts

Dried chillies

Tomato sauce

Chilli sauce

Salt

Sugar

Kuzi Ayam & Telur
Chicken

Hard boiled eggs

Rempah Tumis (Aniseed, Cinnamon)

Beriani Powder

Onions

Garlic

Ginger

Tomato Puree

Carrots

Tomato (cut into wedges)

Salt and Sugar

Blend onions, garlic, ginger and beriani powder together.

Heat oil, add the rempah tumis and the blended ingredients. Add chicken and simmer till the chicken is cooked. Add in carrots and tomato puree. Give it a taste, by adding in salt and sugar.

Finally add in the hard boiled eggs and tomato that you have cut into wedges. Let them cook and ready for serving.

Dendeng Daging

Onion - fry & blend

Ginger - fry & blend

Garlic - fry and blend

Dried Chilli - fry and blend

Boil beef until it's tender and fry it. Put it aside.

Fry rempah tumis, add the mixed onion, ginger, garlic and chilli until saute them until they are well cooked.

Add salt, sugar.

Add the fried beef and finally serve it with "bawang goreng"... Yummm...

Raya 2011 cookies

I bought some Raya cookies from my friend, Abid. But those are not for Raya. We ate them after our Terawih every night. The cookie making was Ain's idea when she wanted to make cornflakes & honey cookies. Since my son, Nasri is having his semester break, I thought it would be a good idea to make cookies at our kampung every weekend. So I hunt down for recipes and prepared the dough a few nights ahead. On Saturday, right after our Iftar, the girls (Ain, Suaidah, Nina & Wani) started making the cookies while my sons joined in after the Terawih. So 2 weekends and 6 cookies we made!

Ramadhan 4, 1432H

An update of what we had for Iftar 3rd Ramadhan...

Hubby bought 6 pieces of kuih, and we had Ikan Patin masak lemak cili api tempoyak with Fried Bean Sprout with Ikan Masin.

On the 4th of Ramadhan, I was clueless, I did not know what to cook. It has been raining, so a good soup would do. I made us Beef Soup with lots of blackpepper. I found this recipe of Moroccan Chicken & Olives and decided to alter it.

Moroccan Chicken & Olives

Marinate Chicken pieces with ground ginger, ground garlic, ground cinnamon, salt and blackpepper. Leave it to rest for an hour.

Heat olive oil, and fry each chicken pieces until well cooked. Once done, fry in some onions. Mix well. Put in some lime juice and chicken broth (about half a cup). Let the mixture cook well. Finally add in olives. I used green and black olives.

Besides this dish, I decided to add in Ain's favourite, the Rojak Tauhu to our Iftar Meal.

Rojak Tauhu

4 pieces of Tauhu- fry them and cut into pieces.

Taugeh- soak and hot water & drain.

Cucumber

Sengkuang.

For the gravy, I blend fried peanuts with cili padi, salt,sugar and kicap cap kipas.

Ramadhan 1432H

Forgot to snap Zul's char keoy teow....Credits goes to travelerfolio.com for this picture.

I'm lucky to be back with my family for the auspicious Ramadhan this year. On the first night of the taraweeh, we had our prayers at the Tan Sri Ainuddin Wahid Mosque. The first day of Ramadhan was quite a challenge for us as we have spent 3 Ramadhans in New Zealand. Ramadhan in NZ was cooler and at a shorter time. But with this weather, it was difficult for us (mcm lerr tak penah puasa di msia sblm ni...) We spent our "buka puasa" at my kampung in Pontian. As usual, I prepared the dish (sotong goreng hitam, sambal kering kentang & tempe, beef & vege clear soup) to complement our rice...while hubby said he would prepare the Char Keoy Teow. When I reached my kampung, my 2nd sister and her family were already there, busy making fried mee. Towards the breaking of the fast, my 4th sister and family came with their laksa goreng, kuih bakar and red bean bun. My 3rd sister who lives next to my dad came over to break the fast with us. The family brought with them murtabak spore, nasi goreng & bubur lambuk...So, all my siblings joined together in this uncalled breaking of fast...It wasn't planned. There were plenty of food...oh ya, and I forgot about the drinks...from lychee to soya bean to honeydew drink...plus coffee and tea.

My dad wanted to fast but he broke his fast at 9am because of his gastrics and old age.

That night, I felt too heavy to perform my 2nd taraweeh, but made a point to do it at the kampung's mosque.

Today is the 2nd of Ramadhan. I prepared a simple dish for the family like chicken curry and fried beans to complement the rice. Zul made sardine roll, and before the "azan" I managed to make a quick serawa durian to be eaten with Gardenia bread. Anga went to the Bazar Ramadhan just across the street from where we live but he came back empty handed. I asked him "why no drinks or kuihs?" "ohh...they were all MERAPU stuff..."

For teraweeh, we headed to Tan Sri Ainuddin Wahid Mosque.