Sikhs prepare famous Indonesian dish at Malacca

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Malacca, Malaysia | Asia Samachar | 24 May 2015 (Updated: 20.15)
An Indonesian Sikh preparing vegetarian soto at the Malacca annual Sikh prayer programme - PHOTO SARJIT KAUR
An Indonesian Sikh preparing vegetarian soto at the Malacca annual Sikh prayer programme – PHOTO SARJIT KAUR

Let’s get cooking, Indonesian style. Some Sikhs from Indonesian attending the massive Malacca Sikh annual prayer programme prepared soto,  a traditional Indonesian comfort food,as well as gado-gado and kentang kering to be served to the congregation.

They even brought along the necessary ingredients to make the dish famous in Indonesian and Malaysia.

The vegetarian version of the soto, which usually consists of broth, meat and vegetables, was served along with the other prepared food to the members of the congregation and other visitors to the 43rd Sant Sohan Singh Ji Selaana Yaadgar Semagam.

On Friday, the group had prepared gado-gado and kentang kering (finely sliced potatoes with sambal).

The four-day programme which ended today (May 24) is held in memory of Sohan Singh (1901-1972), a well-respected Sikh missionary, who had touched many hearts in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

On all four days of the event, vegetarian meals are prepared around the clock, and served piping hot the Sikhs and visitors who come over to the gurdwara (Sikh temple). Free flow of hot tea or chaa as the Punjabis call is usually served throughout the day, accompanied with sweetmeats like jalebis or barfi.

The Indonesian participants added their own flavour to the  to the annual event, the largest annual Sikh gathering in Southeast Asia.

Many traditional Indonesian soups are called soto, whereas foreign and Western influenced soups are called sop. Soto is sometimes considered Indonesia’s national dish, as it is served from Sumatra to Papua, in a wide range of variations, according to Wikipedia.

Gado-gado, a main course in itself, is an Indonesian salad. It is usually composed of slightly boiled, blanched or steamed vegetables and hard-boiled eggs, fried tofu and tempeh, and lontong (rice wrapped in a banana leaf), served with a peanut sauce dressing.

Every year, a few hundreds Sikhs from Indonesia attend the programme organised by the Gurdwara Sahib Malacca. The event attracts Sikhs from across Malaysia as well as from Singapore, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand.

The central event at the programme is the continuous reading of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh scripture. Read by a relay of Sikhs, the complete reading of the 1,430 pages of the scripture usually takes about 48-hours.

Volunteers prepare capatis in the thousands to be served piping hot to the visitors to the biggest annual Sikh gathering in Southeast Asia that ended in Malacca today - PHOTO ASIA SAMACHAR
Volunteers prepare capatis in the thousands to be served piping hot to the visitors to the biggest annual Sikh gathering in Southeast Asia that ended in Malacca today – PHOTO ASIA SAMACHAR

 

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3 COMMENTS

  1. Dear Paramjit. Thank you for the correction. Indeed, the standard version of the SGGS in use today runs into 1,430 pages. As for the gado-gado, the ingredients given in the story are for the original recipe. We assume the preparers at Malacca would have adjusted to the vegetarian version to be included as part of the Guru ka Langgar. In that case, egg would be off the list as well. Another item in the Guru ka Langgar was nasi lemak, again, the vegetarian version.

  2. “Gado-gado, a main course in itself, is an Indonesian salad. It is usually composed of slightly boiled, blanched or steamed vegetables and hard-boiled eggs, fried tofu and tempeh, and lontong (rice wrapped in a banana leaf), served with a peanut sauce dressing.”

    It did not indicate that the Gado-gado did not use any eggs.

    ” 1,480 pages of the scripture”

    Suppose to be 1430 Ang

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