Eid in Sydney 2010

First Day - Friday Sept 10

Creative touch of the Malaysia Hall Sydney residents adds a festive mood to the venue.

The Eid prayer was led by Ustaz Sabri who later gave a short sermon and du'a.

Young men in traditional gear queuing up for a simple Eid breakfast of fried noodles.

Candidates for Angelina's fiance #4? hmmmm.....

Aunty H, hubby and youngest son. We adjourned to their home after the prayer at Malaysia Hall. Our first Open House for the day.

A familiar sight Down Under - bbq! Even on Eid! Oh, but this young man (Aunty H's eldest son) was busy bbq-ing the ubiquitous Malaysian satay....

Some of Aunty H's offering....our first burps...there were nasi impit, pulut, beef rendang, chicken masak merah, biryani, beef curry, beef and chicken satay....etc etc etc...her cookies were specially imported from Malaysia!

Some of Aunty H's guests. That cute little boy is Nicholas....he's so lovable!

Then we went to visit Ustaz Malik who was the imam of the Darul IMAAN mosque. There was a big crowd at his house. He still remain cheerful greeting his guests despite his illness.

Ustaz Malik's wife (right) with a guest. She's also ill and hardly leave the house nowadays.

Then we went to Nana's place in Camden and played with these kids, and 11 others! We stayed overnight at Nana's.

Second Day - Saturday Sept 11th

Another trip to Malaysia Hall for the 1Malaysia Open House. There was an abundance of food....glorious food...

Budding entrepreneurs? No....just some happy volunteers who helped out at the satay stall....

Hmmm...that looks yummy...oh yes...Eid is also all about sharing yummy food.

Some families had sort of a picnic indoors.

There was a live band too...no, nobody invited me to sing! sob sob sob....

1Malaysia in Sydney!

The muscles behind the scene....aka the staff of the Malaysian Consulate in Sydney.

Group photo of students who attended the Open House.

I love it when families come in colour coordinated outfits.

These Aussie lass have Malaysian origin! Brad was drooling at the sight of these lovelies.

Group photo of the organising committee and crew members.

After all that gluttony at the Malaysia Hall, we visited Aunty HH's home in Bondi Junction. There were mee kari, mee sup, chicken rendang, nasi impit, kek lapis, cheesecake, apple crumble etc etc etc....another round of burps....

Some of Aunty HH's guests.

Third Day - Sunday Sept 12

As of now, we are still at home though we've been invited to more Open Houses....we'll see.... Well, Mama decided to do her laundry today too. Oh well.... purrr....meow!

EID MUBARAK

You can take my Mama out of Malaysia but you can never take out the Malaysia in her.

Point in case, her preparation for Eid. Being the filial daughter, my job was to help her anywhere I can. Like, massaging her tired legs, kissing her tired face, burping appropriately after eating the cookies and cakes.... oooh...but I digress.

So, what's so Malaysian about her preparation for Eid? First, she prepared herself spiritually by performing prayers at the Malaysia Hall. Then, in between work and her waking hours, she made cookies. Yummylicious cookies using recipes she inherited from her ancestors. GrandMa, greatgrandMa...the lot. Divine colours they have too.

Problem is, some of the ingredients are hard to find. Like, where can we get Brown & Polson custard powder here? So, she had to settle for Ahmad's. Then, there was this hunt for Nestum. None of the shopkeepers have ever heard of Nestum. She tried substituting it with Cerelac and was unhappy with the results. So that's one cookie not finding its way to our "balang kuih". And pineapples are so expensive now, at $5 a piece, so Mama didn't even attempt to make jam and tarts this year. Phew...some energy saved there.

But all of those challenges didn't deter her from making Makmur, Cornflakes Honey, Sarang Semut and Chocolate Chip Cookies. She went overboard with the choc chips - there's the plain, or with walnuts and with macadamias - three types of them. Now she's saying she may make some London Almonds too. Oooh...and she's made Moist Chocolate Cake (with buttermilk....yummmm), Orange Butter Cake, Fruit Cake and Kek Lapis.

"Siapa nak datang rumah kita ni Mama? Are we going to hold Open House this year?" I asked her.

"Angelina, when we go visit other people's Open Houses, we'll bring our cookies and cakes as gifts. We'll go buy some nice packaging materials so that they look pretty too, OK?" she assured me.

"...and so they won't think twice about giving you and Brad duit Raya, OK?" Cheeky retort from her.

Well, thank God the baking phase is over. The kitchen looks normal now. And I get some practice on the DSLR. Divine colours there...don't you agree?

Clockwise, from right: Choc Chip with Walnuts, Sarang Semut, Cornflakes with Honey, and Makmur.

Wanna have a taste? Come on over. yummm..!

Heard over the grapevine that the community will be observing the moon tonight. If it's sighted, then it's Eid tomorrow or else Friday it shall be. Well, to the cats, it doesn't matter what day it is. As long as Mama comes out of the kitchen with mouth watering delicacies...I think apart from her much drooled over rendang kerang, she'll also make sambal goreng, sambal sotong and nasi dagang (which means tuna! yay!)

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

Maaf dan ampun dari hujung misai sampai hujung ekor.....purrrr.....meow!

In the meantime, the stalemate in Australian Parliament is finally over. The handful Independence members finally made their decision. OK, results from the General Election was 72-72 for both Labour and Liberal. Then the single Greens member declared for Labour. Then another Independent also declared for Labour. Then the final three - 1 for Liberal, 2 for Labour. Making it 76-73. Oh dear, Ms Gillard, although remains as PM will not have it easy for the next 35 months in Parliament. Expect fur to fly all the time... this is better than reality TV.

It's That Time of the Year....

WWWAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!

Find more videos like this on video.filestube.com.

Cara oh Cara....

It's a tradition in our family to bear gifts when we visit family and friends' homes. And we notice that people actually appreciate gifts that are made more than those that are bought. Especially here where authentic Malaysian food is hard to come by.

So, when we received invitation to have iftar at Aunty H's house a few days ago, we all crack our heads on what gifts to bring. How about home made food, said Brad. Typical of the boy, all he could think of is food, even in Ramadan. But everybody agrees with him.

And as usual with Mama, what she cooks depend very much on what's in the fridge. So, we end up with the following menu: Daging Masak Kicap (Beef in Soy Bean Sauce), Lemak Cili Api Telur Ikan dengan Nangka (Fish Roe and Young Jackfruit in hot coconut milk) and for dessert - Kuih Cara.

What's Kuih Cara?

For the uninitiated, Kuih Cara is a type of mini pancake (as the batter is very similar to pancake) that is cooked either as a sweet or savoury dessert. The sweet version normally uses daun pandan (aromatic screwpine leaves) as natural flavouring and colouring while the savoury version has meat in it. When I suggested that perhaps we should call this poffertjes a la Malaysia, everybody agrees too. Only nicer and more flavourful, I must say.

Kuih Cara Berlauk - the savoury version we made last week, the filling was made using minced beef and black pepper...yummm...

So far, we've made both versions this month. As I said earlier, depends on what's available in the fridge.

Am listing the recipe for the sweet version here. Don't blame me if you don't get it right. The trouble with Malaysian kuih is that it's easy to eat but mostly difficult to make. Here goes:

Kuih Cara Manis (sweet mini pancakes)

Ingredients:
300g plain flour
3 cups coconut cream (not too thick)
4 pandan leaves (grated and juice squeezed)
1 egg
a pinch of salt
50g sugar
cooking oil spray

Method:
1. Put flour in mixing bowl and make a well in the middle.
2. Break egg into well and fold flour.
3. Pour in pandan juice and mix well.
4. Pour coconut cream, little at a time to form a smooth batter. Batter shouldn't be too thick or too thin....feel with your fingers. Oh, don't forget the pinch of salt. Mix well.
5. Heat Kuih Cara mould on the stove (we used two moulds so that we can finish off batter faster).
6. Spray cooking oil on mould. Don't spray too much, just enough to coat the "holes". (you can also use a brush with cooking oil if you don't have the spray type)
7. Spoon batter into the "holes", about 1 1/2 tablespoon if you're using the "belimbing" design (see ours). Less if you're using "cermai", just remember not to overdo it. Shouldn't overflow, OK?
8. Cover mould to quicken cooking process. We used a glass pot cover so we could see what was going on.
9. As soon as you see the sides beginning to cook, spoon about 1/4 teaspoon of sugar into each kuih.

That indentation in the middle of the kuih indicated the point when we spoon the sugar in.

10. Use a small fork to dig out kuih once batter has gone all opaque. Let it cool before you eat them or else the hot molten sugar in the kuih will burn your tongue.

All cooked and cooling in the container.

Ready to eat. Usually, the kuih is displayed in pairs. Aren't they pretty?

Yummm...this is special. Fish Roe and Young Jackfruit cooked in hot (bird's eye chili) coconut cream. The fish roe is fresh from the fish shop but the young jackfruit is of the canned variety. Chili padi from our garden, OK?

Beef in Soybean Sauce...with black pepper, coriander and ginger too. Yummmm.....

burp....burp....burp.... purrr....meow!

BazRam in Sydney?

Sweet lass hawking their wares....yummy pau goreng inti sambal there.

We got quite excited when we heard the news. Who would have thought that Malaysian culture would spread that way....

Anyway, Mama took us to the Bazaar on Sunday. Of course, compared to TK's or Pak Mat's depiction of bazaars in their place, this one is sooooo teenie weenie and only happens on Sundays. However, it's the spirit that counts, people.

Sibuk macam pasar...at the bazaar.

Mooted by the Malaysian Consulate in Sydney and held on the grounds of the Malaysia Hall in Randwick, students or their spouses were encouraged to set up stall and show us their culinary skills. Considering some ingredients for Malaysian cooking are hard to come by, the "entrepreneurs" didn't disappoint too much. While some dishes are way too different compared to the original (too much adaption here and there due to lack of ingredients I guess), some are quite authentic.

Hmm...their mothers would be proud of these blokes.

And people come from all over. We met people who came all the way from Penrith and Blacktown (about an hour and a half drive away) and there are those who come from Liverpool and Prestons (one hour away). Amazing, really, because publicity was none and the news spread through words of mouth only.

People came from all over to the bazaar.

If they were to hold more of the bazaars, the organisers should think of advertising it more. And it should be opened to everyone, not just Malaysians in Sydney. The Bangladeshi guys at the Caltex station next door thought they won't be allowed in....poor blokes. Mama took pity on them and gave them some of the "kuih" we bought. We got "Terima Kasih" and "Malaysia Bagus!" for that. Those blokes must have visited Malaysia in the past.

Food wise, there was a lot on offer. From Nasi Lemak to Nasi Kerabu and Nasi Permata (kinda like Nasi Minyak) and Nasi Ambang, and there was Soto Ayam, Mee Rojak, Pulut Kuning, Gulai Kawah, Kerabu Perut....and lots of "kuih" varieties - sweet and savoury - pau goreng, pulut udang, koleh kacang, bingka ubi, cara, seri muka etc etc etc.

Gulai Kawah in Sydney? That humongous wok (kawah) came all the way from Malaysia we were told.

We try to limit ourselves in the buying though...note that nobody was selling fish of any kind... for a cat, that's a tad disappointing. If there's another one next weekend, we'll surely be there again. purrr....meow!

Only one stall sells drinks though.