the holiday marking the end of Ramadan, is celebrated all over the Muslim world, but in Malaysia (where it's most often called Hari Raya Puasa or Hari Raya Aidilfitri), it's an especially big deal.
"It's huge!" explains Engku Putri Irna Mysara, the founder of food business "Elsewhere, it's usually three days, but in Malaysia, we take it to a whole different level and celebrate for a month."
Engku Putri Irna Mysara, (second from right) at an Eid gathering in the home.
The restaurant has since closed and Sijori has morphed into a . Mysara is currently staying with her family while researching in Malaysia, where Ramadan is underway.
Sayur lodeh and ketupat.
"But now that I'm older and I have children, I think it's teaching them the value of patience. And then you get to celebrate," she says.
It's literally like a food exhibition.
Following Ramadan, Hari Raya Puasa is all about , where Malaysian Muslims open their door to family and friends to gather and feast.
For Mysara, , (rice cakes cooked in palm leaf pouches), (glutinous rice, coconut milk and salt cooked in banana leaves in a hollowed bamboo) and (a vegetable and coconut milk soup) are staples.
"The ketupat really encompasses Malay culture because the women gather and weave the parcels. They talk, so it's a very communal activity, which is part of the experience as well. You cook together and you prepare all these intricate dishes," she explains.
Cook Engku's recipe
Sayur lemak lodeh
Other dishes that find their place at her family's table include Middle Eastern , Indonesian and which all have special meanings.
"Because we have this melting pot of a city, different households have different celebratory foods; that's what makes it special. When people do open houses, it's literally like a food exhibition. You prepare things that are true to your ethnicity. We're so blessed that we have different cultures in Malaysia," she says.
Laksa Johor.
They've hosted open houses that have accommodated a thousand guests in the past, though she admits this is out of the ordinary. She's seen other families hiring stalls for their homes to dish out or .
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Malaysian chicken satay (satay ayam)
"It's madness, it's crazy but that's what Malaysia is all about: food, food, food. This is the Malay culture of how we celebrate," says Mysara.
"At the end of the day, Eid is a gathering to be together, to feed one another and to be hospitable. Inviting people into our home and making sure that every guest is well taken care of is a big part of our faith."
