Hay..hay today I will tell you how exciting Eid or Eid al-Fitr is in Indonesia, especially in my country, Indonesia. The first day of this Eid is a day that is highly awaited, especially after 2 consecutive years of the COVID-19 pandemic which requires that all citizens cannot gather freely and meet in person in their respective hometowns, especially for people who live abroad to earn income in the city or in the country. Indeed, this year's Eid is the culmination of the longing of Muslims in Indonesia to celebrate Eid al-Fitr without any limitations and fears.
Because today is a Muslim holiday. Eid al-Fitr is also known as the day of victory. Why is it called the day of victory because on Eid al-Fitr it is the Muslims who have gone through fasting for 30 days. Fasting fully from morning to evening refrain from eating, drinking, having sex during the day, holding back emotions and others. That is why Eid is called the day of victory.
Talking about holidays, of course a country or region has different traditions according to the customs that have been upheld. By the people. So is our extended family. there are some fun traditions that are timeless and that are eagerly awaited by children for their snacks, the tradition is the sungkeman tradition or shaking hands from younger people to older people, with the aim of apologizing from all behavior, or attitudes that have accidentally hurt feelings. Not only that, the sungkeman tradition is also to strengthen friendship and respect those who are older and respect those who are much younger.
Apart from the traditional sungkeman, what the children will look forward to the most is the distribution of Angpao. In our family, after shaking hands the children who are still students or those who have not worked will get the Angpao. The amount of Angpao is in accordance with the ability of those who will give without any coercion. The important thing is that Happy and the extended family can gather together and ask each other how they are after a long time not seeing each other in person. This is a very touching moment. Very delighted.
It's not just the sungkeman tradition and sharing red packets. Foods that are only available during Eid will also be served with joy and eaten with family. There are various dishes that can be chosen by family or non-family guests. A must-have dish is rice cake or ketupat. Lontong or ketupat is rice that is placed in plastic or banana leaves, for more than 4 hours, resulting in a dense lontong texture. Lontong is eaten with pecal seasoning sauce, chicken opor, or coconut milk sauce with chayote in it.
Not only that, rice cake can also be poured with peanut sauce plus chicken satay. Besides rice cake, there is also pecal, which is a mixture of several decoctions of leaves such as cassava leaves, kangkong, bean sprouts and long beans. And covered with pecal seasoning. Especially for this Eid, I cooked duck curry from my own drum. Cut and cleaned manually. This duck curry completes the Eid dish this time.
Not just heavy dishes. In every house we can find a variety of cookies or snack dishes with various flavors and types. Everything is provided to entertain existing guests.
And all the fun that exists is only during Eid. And this year's Eid is completely different. They are like taking revenge after the last 2 years there was no Eid like this. The large number of worshipers praying in the mosque this year also signifies the end of covid 19. Hopefully there will be no more plagues. And up here. Greetings from us Tomi and Maya from Binjai City, Indonesia. Eid Mubarak. Forgive me body and soul. Healthy and happy always for all of us.. Aamiin