When it comes to fasting month, I usually suhoor with simple dish like fried noodles or bread with eggs or the leftover iftar on the previous night. I take this opportunity to cut down on my food consumption.
While observing my fasting, I have some "must-do list" in Ramadan.
Ritual one, I will go suhoor outside once on the weekend with my friends. Though waking up and wearing decent clothes will be a drag, we do it anyway.
The eatery option is usually kedai mamak or McDonald. We eat and we chat and perhaps we pretend like breakfast meet up. Just make sure we don’t eat after adhan for fajr prayer.
Another ritual is going to the Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) Bazaar and finding some good food for that day. Though the bazaar is always packed, i just somehow blend in with the crowd.
Just be part of the bazaar-goers who hunt for food that perhaps catch the eyes and pull us in with the good smell of various delicacies.
I pretty much don’t have a special menu, but I am an avid fan of tepung pelita Paya Jaras (TPPJ), which is only available during Ramadan. Its texture is smooth and creamy, and its taste is a combination of sweet pandan essence (fragrant screwpine) and savoury santan (coconut milk).
It’s like if I miss this, I have to wait another year! So true to its tagline, "Rasa sebulan, rindu setahun".
Other days, I just eat regular food with a mindset that reminds me not to overconsume. As for me, this is a time where you can lose a bit of weight to cover the soon gain of weight during Raya ;p
My mom would always have the say of what colour we should wear when we all gather on one Raya day and later in the evening go to relatives' houses convoy style.
Since I was a child, I have enjoyed the loud and cheerful atmosphere with good conversation and infectious laughter while eating all the kuih raya. So, every house will be "happening" like that, since relatives are "gila-gila" like us too.
With any other typical family on the first day of Raya, we eat ketupat rendang, and I am "hantu" for Johor laksa. In my family, we also order biryani rice. Not to forget, bandung syrup with soda will be a family must-have.
What a feast, I know, but we always make sure not to over do it, just enough for the family and close relatives.
At the end of the festive time, we will always carry good memories and never get bored to repeat again next year!
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