A day before Hari Raya

Selamat Hari Raya to all. I guess everyone is back at work already. I am... though not whole-heartedly. Time for me to update all my Hari Raya pictures. I shall start with the Pre-Hari Raya pictures first. Hari Raya without my mother's Rendang Ayam is just not Hari Raya! When I sense that my mom is not making any plans to prepare her Rendang Negeri, I decided to prepare them myself. So we got all the necessary ingredients Saturday Morning, the day before hari raya. My mom's maid prepared all the necesarry tricky bits, so we (hubby and I) just did the cooking bit.

First and foremost, the Wok, as huge as you can get your hands on. Since we were cooking 3 whole chickens, it makes sense to use this huge one, that my mom happens to have.

These are the tricky part that I said earlier: Clockwise from Left to Right: Chilli Mix (Blended Dried Chillies with Chilli Api - a packet of Meat curry powder and some fresh pounded tumeric, Lemon Grass and Lime Leaves, Galangal - pounded, Garlic, Shallots and Ginger)

Chicken


Jack preparing the wok.

In with the Ginger, Garlic and Shallot Mix.

Galangal In.

Chili Mix + Curry Powder In

Then the chicken.

Mix well and simmer.

Waiting. Zarif is upset cause he lost his PS2 mate! And it isn't his sister.

Stir and wait.

Nayli lending a hand.

In with the lemon grass and lime leaves.

At this point the smell is like... wow!!!

Time for the coconut milk, plenty of them.

Simmering away.

Once the chicken is half cooked - they're then taken out. This is to allow the gravy to cook further without the risk of the chicken getting shredded to pieces due to over stirring.

Once the chickens are out, we added the kerisik (grated, roasted,

grinded coconut paste) to thicken the gravy.

Once it has thicken to your desired consistency or, once you can't wait any longer (whichever comes first) - throw the chicken back in.

Wallah! Rendang Ayam Negeri.

Packed for freezing even!

What's left is the oily bit - and mucky gravy, so good for dipping.

My Rendang Ayam - ready for next day's Hari Raya breakfast to be paired with Ketupat Pulut, that I have imported from Trengganu. East meets West (Pantai Timur meets Pantai Barat that is)!