Traditional fare on offer at mosque

Traditional fare on offer at mosque

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra

Hundreds of people are sitting cross-legged under a tent in
the grounds of the Medan Great Mosque, waiting patiently for the
time to break their daily fast during the fasting month of
Ramadhan. When the huge drum is struck -- signaling the time to
break the fast and begin Maghrib (early evening) prayers -- they
express gratitude to God.

Each of the people then savor the special dishes prepared by
the mosque management for travelers, including those from outside
Medan. What makes this tradition famous is the food, including
soup porridge, anyang (vegetables with scraped coconut) and
dates.

"I don't know this food, but I'll certainly give it a try
and I think it should be delicious," said Adam, a 27-year-old
Englishman who converted to Islam about three months ago. After
relishing the special soup porridge, Adam - having stayed in
Medan for four months - said it was enjoyable. "It's really
unique and unexpected," he said with a smile.

Muhammad Hamdan, chief cook at the mosque for the past 10
years, said consuming soup porridge and anyang for breaking the
fast was a tradition inherited in 1906 from the Sultan Mahmud Ar
Rasyid, the ninth sultan of Deli.

"To preserve this tradition, we have deliberately not made any
changes to the menu," he said.

The tradition began when the sultan built the mosque. The
meal, which had been cooked by the sultanate palace chefs, was
always served for travelers. After 30 years members of the mosque
management together with people living nearby had begun preparing
the porridge.

"This tradition has been going on for five generations until
now during the times of the 13th Sultan of Deli," Hamdan said.

He said that he had no idea of the medical benefits of the
dish but breaking the fast with soft foods would aid the
digestion. He always felt full afterwards.

"I don't feel like eating for the rest of the night after
having the porridge."

Ingredients in the soup porridge include 15 kilograms of rice,
five kilograms of meat, 10 kilograms of carrots and potatoes,
salt, fried shallots, leeks and pepper, cinnamon and other
spices.

Anyang is made of various vegetables including bean sprouts,
pakis (local edible fern) leaves, peas and so forth. The soup
porridge and anyang are prepared separately: the first is done by
the mosque management and the latter by people nearly who get
paid to cook it.

The management spends Rp 620,000 (US$59) per day preparing the
soup porridge and Rp 80,000 to make anyang.

"So far the entire funding has been provided by donors,
including the family of the Sultan of Deli," Hamdan said.

The soup porridge is cooked in a large pot. For the first 45
minutes the meat is cooked until it is tender and then rice is
added. After about 30 minutes the remaining ingredients follow.
"The whole process takes about two hours," he said.

While anyang is similar to the Javanese version of urap, the
difference is that the scraped coconut is not wet, but dry.
Anyang is later served as the soup porridge topping.

During Ramadhan, hundreds of mainly local people who are fond
of the food, flock to the mosque even before the preparations
take place. The cooking process itself begins at 2 p.m.

Before Ashar (afternoon) praying, the soup porridge is
distributed as takeaways. The number of people getting takeaways
could reach 70. They only get the porridge without the anyang
topping. Some 200 dishes are prepared for those breaking the fast
at the mosque.

Fifty-year-old Erni, who lives next to the mosque, expressed
the joy of breaking the fast with soup porridge. "It is much more
enjoyable when you take it home and share it with the whole
family," she said, with a shy smile. The mother of six admitted
she has been taking it home for the past 15 years.

However, the management could only provide the tradition up to
the 27th day of Ramadhan. Starting at the 28th, they change the
menu with nasi bungkus (rice with meat and vegetables) as they
were busy distributing zakat, a religious tax collected from
Muslims and distributed to the poor.