September 2010 ~ Jeny's Closet

Ketupat or packed rice is a type of dumpling from Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei,Singapore, and the Philippines. It is made from rice that has been wrapped in a woven palm leaf pouch and boiled. As the rice cooks, the grains expand to fill the pouch and the rice becomes compressed. This method of cooking gives the ketupat its characteristic form and texture of a rice dumpling. Ketupat is usually eaten with rendang (a type of dry beef curry) or served as an accompaniment to satay or gado-gado, a chosen mix during Eid Mubarak.

- Wikipedia

You can earn a living weaving ketupats.

That was what I was thinking as I spent the last 2 hours weaving ketupats for Eid Mubarak. Eid will come to us in the next 2 days and if I don’t finish this whole bunch of leaves soon my Mum will have fits and I will have a panic attack. Much as I love having mindless conversation with my boyfriend, this was much more important. I will be dead if I don’t have ketupats on the table for Eid.

Ketupats are the main source of food for Eid Mubarak. You can’t have Eid Mubarak without it, like you cannot not have Turkey during Thanksgiving. The process of making one is tedious, is it any wonder very few people practice making their own ketupats anymore. I myself was once reluctant to learn the skill but Mum spook me into learning by telling a dubious tale that should I die without learning, I would have to carry the penis of a genie when I die. I was 9 when she told me that and I spend the next 3 years trying to learn the skill. I only perfected it when I was 12. Now I can’t stop bragging being one of the last few of my generations having the knowledge and skill of making that ketupat. Gee, thanks Mum. For that penis tale.

I made this video for my sister Syasya so she too can learn the arts of weaving ketupats. She won’t buy the story of the penis but I hope that she and her generations will continue this culture we built before it is long forgotten. Let it not be a lost art in our pursuit of modernization. It is such foods made with love and its rich history that makes such occasions, like having a meal with loved ones, memorable.

To all my Muslim friends, have a great Eid Mubarak.