Three Beginner-Friendly Food Recipes for Hari Raya Haji
Like all festive and special occasions in Malaysia, food is the star of the show at any Hari Raya Haji gathering. As families go from house to house, catching up with one another around the dinner table, much laughter is often shared alongside delicious food and sweet treats for all to enjoy.
Though anyone can cook, not everybody is a master chef. Some of us may just be starting out our own cooking journey, while others may only take baby steps towards it. But one thing’s for sure – there is nothing like a home-cooked meal to fill bellies and warm hearts around the table. So, why not challenge yourself this Hari Raya Haji and try your hand at these three beginner-friendly Malay food and kuih recipes for anyone to whip up?
Besides arming yourself with our recipes below, you’ll also need the right ingredients, kitchen essentials, and baking equipment. And regarding the latter, Kenwood Malaysia offers some of the best industry-grade kitchen equipment and cooking appliances you can find in the market.
1. Chicken Rendang
The staple of all Hari Raya celebrations, rendang is a must-have at the dinner table for your family and guests. While often construed as a complicated dish, our Kenwood blenders or stand mixers make this Hari Raya recipe much more achievable, even for beginner cooks. Simply follow the below steps!
Recipe Yield: 5 to 6 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
- Shallots (8 – 10)
- Garlic (5 cloves; peeled)
- Ginger (2.5cm; cut into small pieces)
- Turmeric stalk (2cm fresh or 1/2 tbsp powdered; for the former, cut into small pieces)
- Turmeric leaves (3 leaves; finely shredded)
- Galangal (2cm fresh; cut into small pieces)
- Lemongrass (6 sticks; white portion only; 3 cut into small pieces, 3 bruised)
- Dried chilli (15 pieces; cut into rough pieces, de-seeded, soaked in hot water until soft and drained)
- Chicken (1 whole; cut into pieces)
- Coconut cream (250ml)
- Toasted coconut paste (200g)
- Palm Sugar (1 tbsp)
- Sugar (½ tbsp)
- Salt (1½ tbsp)
- Cooking oil
Instructions:
- Blend shallots, garlic, ginger, turmeric stalk, galangal, cut lemongrass, and dried chilli.
- Heat oil in a large wok over medium heat. Add blended spice paste and stir-fry until fragrant.
- Add bruised lemongrass and chicken pieces. Mix well and let cook for 5 minutes while stirring occasionally.
- Add coconut cream. Mix well.
- Add palm sugar, sugar, and salt. Mix well until combined.
- Bring to a boil, then lower heat slightly. Let simmer uncovered for 30 minutes while stirring occasionally.
- Add toasted coconut paste. Mix well.
- Add finely shredded turmeric leaves.
- Cook for another 10 minutes over low heat until thickened.
- Serve.
2. Kuih Bangkit Santan
Almost synonymous with the Hari Raya holidays, kuih bangkit santan is a must-have sweet treat. Airy and delicate melt-in-your-mouth texture, a good-tasting kuih bangkit should also have a creamy and rich coconut taste. Besides buying this kuih from bakeries, you can also replicate its distinct aroma and texture with an electric Kenwood stand mixer, a convection oven, and our easy recipe below.
Recipe Yield: 80 pieces of 5g cookies
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
- Pre-cooked tapioca flour/starch (250g)
- 5 Pandan leaves (to cut them into 3-4 inch pieces)
- Coconut cream (100mL or more as needed)
- 20g egg yolks
- Icing sugar (70g)
- Salt (⅛ teaspoon to bring out the flavour of the cookie)
Instructions:
- Place the flour in a pan lined with parchment paper. Bake at 150°C for two hours. Stir it twice halfway.
- After removing the flour from the oven, weigh it again to ensure its weight has decreased by at least 13%. This would indicate that your flour is dry enough to be used for kuih bangkit.
- Let the tapioca flour cool in the oven to prevent moisture from seeping in.
- Place the egg yolks and icing sugar into a mixing bowl and begin mixing them with the whisk attachment from your stand mixer. We recommend starting at a low speed before increasing it. You will see your sugar starting to melt.
- Increase the speed of your mixer to high and beat the mixture until it turns pales, creamy, and thick.
- Gently sift the tapioca starch into the egg yolk mixture. Then, add 70mL of coconut cream and knead the dough with your clean hand. From here, you continue adding bit by bit whilst still kneading. Do this until your dough is no longer smooth.
- Pinch off a small amount and press the dough with your palm. If you notice that when you let go of it, the shape holds, but when you press it, it will crumble – this is the consistency you want for a melt-in-mouth texture.
- Preheat the oven to 150°C and dust the baking sheet and cookie moulds with tapioca dust to prevent your dough from sticking.
- Pinch off one part of the dough and press it firmly into the mould while keeping the rest of your dough covered. Flip the mould over and firmly tap it to release the shaped dough.
- If the dough becomes dry as you work with it, you can always add more of the extra coconut cream from earlier and mix it in.
- Bake your kuih at 150°C for 15 minutes.
- When baking your kuih, the bottom should be very lightly golden brown while the top is white.
- After the cookies have cooled, store them in an airtight container, and they will be able to last for 1 month at room temperature.
3. Grilled Mutton Satay
Satays are always eagerly welcomed at any Hari Raya Haji celebration. With a Kenwood food processor or electric grill, you can now make grilled mutton satays from the comfort of your home without needing a barbeque pit.
The best part? You can do so easily by following the simple recipe below!
Recipe Yield: 5-6 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- Mutton fillet (900g; sliced thinly)
- Bamboo skewers (as needed; soaked in water for several hours)
- Cooking oil (as needed)
- Shallots (9 – 10)
- Garlic (6 cloves; peeled)
- Lemongrass (1 stalk)
- Meat curry powder (3 tbsp)
- Chilli powder (3 tbsp)
- Coriander powder (2 tsp)
- Cumin powder (¾ tsp)
- Soft brown sugar (3 tbsp)
- Salt (1½ tbsp)
- Pepper (1½ tbsp)
- Black pepper (1½ tbsp)
- Light soy sauce (3 tbsp)
- Lime juice (¾ tsp)
- Coconut milk (6 tbsp)
Instructions:
- Blend shallots, garlic, lemongrass, meat curry powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, and cumin powder in a food processor until it becomes a fine mixture.
- Combine your processed mix with soft brown sugar, salt, pepper, black pepper, light soy sauce, lime juice, and coconut milk.
- Add mutton slices to the resultant marinade. Mix well and leave to marinate for a few hours.
- Skewer marinated mutton slices with bamboo skewers.
- Grill until lightly browned. Baste constantly with cooking oil.
- Serve to your guests.
Indulgent Hari Raya Dishes with the Best Cooking Appliances in Malaysia
At Kenwood Malaysia, we are committed to helping you make food preparation, cooking, and baking hassle-free. Our wide range of kitchen appliances is suitable for chefs and home cooks of every level, with each kitchen or baking appliance designed to speed up kitchen prep time. When you invest in Kenwood’s appliances, you are also getting free personalised advice and tips from our featured baking partners or advisors to help you embark on this journey.
Want to have a look and feel of our products? Simply visit us at any of our physical stores in Malaysia.