Can't believe another year has gone and Malaysians are still celebrating Hari Raya amidst the Covid-19 pandemic like last year. Needless to say, a lot of Muslims are disappointed as they could not return home to celebrate this supposedly joyous occasion with the family. Still enjoying Hari Raya dishes is still one of the ways that we could make up for the loss of festivity that the virus has brought upon us.

Enjoying Hari Raya Dishes During The Covid-19 Pandemic

Usually, our family would buy our Hari Raya dishes from Malay stalls to celebrate this festival. However, this year, my wife has decided that she would be the one cooking for us instead. So early in the morning, my wife was already busy in the kitchen, preparing all the ingredients that she would use for her Hari Raya dishes.

Adabi Ready-made Nasi Impit

As usual, we wanted to help, my beloved wife insisted that the kitchen is her domain and that it is her duty and more importantly her enjoyment to be able to cook for us. She said all we need to do is to help her eat all the food that she cooks. That's really easy, especially when all the food is crazy delicious. In no time, lunch was served.

Rendang Ayam

Lontong

Sambal Ikan Bilis Pedas (Spicy Anchovies)

The "squeezed" Nasi Impit

My wife had prepared 4 dishes for us with 3 being the traditional Malay cuisines that we would normally have during this festival. Needless to say, the 3 Hari Raya dishes were absolutely lip-smacking. All of them were so spicy and flavourful that we could not have enough of it. We had Ayam Rendang, Lontong, Spicy Anchovies, and last but not least seaweed soup for us to douse of the fire in our mouth and perhaps tummy. Ha 😁

It's time to dig in

Of course, all those devilishly scrumptious spicy dishes will not be complete without rice, right? As we could not seem to get our hands on any Ketupat this year, my wife prepared the ready-made Adabi Nasi Impit. It was pretty easy to prepare as we just needed to pop them into a pot and boiled the packets of rice. In no time, they were cooked and ready to be served. Surely, our Hari Raya dishes tasted even better when we ate them with our Nasi Impit aka "Squeezed Rice".

All in all, I hereby would like to wish all my Muslim friends who are celebrating this joyous festival, Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. May you stay safe at home and still enjoy the festivity. Do use video calls to connect with your loved ones especially your parents and family who are far apart. Send virtual greeting cards to them. Most importantly, do still enjoy Hari Raya dishes with your loved ones. Again, Selamat Hari Raya everyone.