kenduri prep : the kampung way

i promised to blog about how we kampung folks prepare for a wedding ceremony. each of us, young or old, men or women, help one another in handling the preparations. women mostly will focus more on simple (read: energyless activities) tasks such as peeling off onions, garlics etc while men will play major role in processing the slaughtered cow & chickens, erecting the canopies, replenising the food and drinks etc & lifting up heavy things

nway back to the kenduri

the rewang started as early as thursday morning, when a group of makciks who live nearby came with their knives. mak bought a good 100 kg of ripe pumpkins to be made into labu sira, a special dish from the east coast where there pumpkins are going under several processes before being cooked. first you need to peel off its skin, cut into medium sizes and soak them into air kapur for two days. then, the sauce is prepared by mixing water, clove, sugar. put the pumpkins inside the sauce and stir until it blends well. in the evening, everyone helped to concoct kuih koci (made from grated coconut). i believe these two sweet kuihs are selected because not only they are tasty though troublesome but they can last for few days. mak served the makciks fried meehoon for breakfast & lunch with nasi putih, sayur lemak nangka, ikan pelaling goreng, ikan masin & the best sambal belacan from my SIL #2. ya allah.. nikmatnyaa makan ramai²!!

the next day, mak bought fresh just-slaughtered-bull meat to be made into daging dendeng. so us siblings with help of some of the jiran started cutting them beef into thin slices. lenguhnyaa tangan nak siapkan semua! taktau la banyak mana.. tak silap 200 kg mak order.

later few of the makciks started to boil the eggs, while the rest were busy tying the eggs on the bunga pahar and seramic baskets. some of them helped prepacking the kuih kering like kerepek, keropok, bahulu into small plastic bags and sealed them off. the small packs later will be mixed and put into small paper bags. for friday, mak jamu kitorg sarapan nasi lemakwhile untuk lunch nasi putih, ayam goreng, labu masak lemak & ikan goreng. alhamdulillah.. alif pon dah boleh makan pedas sikit² so he could enjoy the breakfast menu as well. masa makcik² sibuk dgn bunga pahar tu, my SILs #1 & #2 tolong i siapkan potpourri utk kengkawan my brother. kiranya special sikit la sebab my bro sediakan cenderahati lain sket utk his friends, and of them is the potpourri laa. masa ni jugak hubby sibuk siapkan pelamin, pasang spotlights, redo the scallops thingy with a green organza (to match the theme color, pelamin & baju kitorg anak beranak). while hubby was on the ladder, alif punya la nangis² nak panjat sekali! mphh.. entah kenapa ntah sejak orang datang rewang, alif was so clingy, taknak orang lain..asyik nak duduk dekat² i je.. so ade banyak benda i buat separuh jalan je.. like the labu sira & kuih koci.. tak khatam pon camner nak buat!! ruginyaaa!!

malam tu, ada buat tahlil. tapi sebab i dah kena migrain attack, tak tau ape yang jadi, awal² lagi alif & i masuk tido. btw tetamu makan nasi putih, acar timun & ayam masak merah. huhuhu ruginyaaa ! perasan tak kerja i asyik maaaakan jeeer! he he

the next day, the kenduri itself !!! tbc

* posted this on 20th june sebab i dah takde terminal sendiri kena share!! cos the transition phase is over **sigh leceh pulak takde pc nih!