Hari Raya Adilfitri: Ketupat Amigurumi (CrocheThea)

As-salāmu 'alaikum. Peace be unto you. Wishing our Muslim Singaporeans, friends, colleagues and neighbours a Selamat Hari Raya; Eid Mubarak to all Muslims around the world.

Today is Eid al-Fitr, which is also known as Hari Raya Adilfitri or Hari Raya Puasa in Singapore and Malaysia, and Lebaran in Indonesia. It is the most well known of the 2 major Islamic holidays officially observed here. For the day, I made amigurumi ketupat, in view of its religious significance in the Hari Raya celebrations. These were made using this amigurumi ketupat pattern by CrocheThea.

Amigurumi ketupat

The ketupat is a humble dish that consists of cooked white rice or glutinous rice wrapped in woven palm leaves or coconut leaves. Washed rice is packed into a rhombus-shaped pouch made of woven palm or coconut leaves, and the pouches are then simmered in water. As the rice cooks, the grains expand and become compressed in the woven pouch, resulting in a dense rice cake.

A traditional food of the Malay people, it is an integral part of Malay culture and cuisine. It originated from Java, and is said to have been introduced by Sunan Kalijaga, one of the 9 Wali Songo (Javanese Islamic saints). A Malay food staple that is usually available all year, it is especially central to Hari Raya and special occasions such as Malay weddings. Ketupat is often served as an accompaniment to many classic Malay dishes, e.g. satay, sayur lodeh (aka sayur lemak), gado gado, rendang, chicken curry (Singapore Malay, Malaysian or Malaysian Nonya style) and so on. Incidentally, these are also some of my personal favourite Malay dishes. Sedap!

In my part of the world, it is customary for Muslims to prepare and eat ketupat during Hari Raya/Eid. Referred to as "ngaku lepat" or "kupat" in Javanese, the ketupat is of religious significance, a symbol of admitting and apologising for one's mistakes, and forgiveness. The criss-cross weave of the leaves represents the wrongdoings of humanity and the white rice cake inside represents purification from these wrongdoings after observing Ramadan. This tradition is said to have first began in the 15th century with Sunan Bonang, another Wali Songo.

The ketupat is also traditionally cut into quarters to represent the Javanese concept of "laku papat", that is the 4 actions of lebaran (width, referring to the door of apology), luberan (abundance), leburan (forgiveness) and laburan (purity and deliverance from sin), as taught by the Sunan Kalijaga.

Now, more on the amazing amigurumi ketupat pattern by Crochet Thea that I used to make these amigurumi ketupat. First, I love the pattern, and how the "feel" of the crisscrossed leaves of the ketupat is somewhat captured in Thea's pattern through her use of the corner-to-corner (C2C) entrelac technique.

Amigurumi ketupat using Tunisan crochet, corner-to-corner entrelac technique. I wet-blocked the work so it would stop curling.

The pattern employs the Tunisian crochet and the corner-to-corner (C2C) entrelac technique. The main stitch used is the Tunisian simple stitch (tss), a basic foundation stitch in Tunisian crochet; kind of like the single crochet stitch to standard crochet. As a Tunisian crochet beginner myself, I think this pattern is a good introduction for beginners to the crochet form. In fact, this pattern was where I first learnt of Tunisian crochet, when I first saw it in 2021.

The pattern is also a good tutorial for the corner-to-corner (C2C) entrelac technique, as CrocheThea includes step-by-step pictures and detailed written instructions. The pattern is easy to follow. That said, I did also look up this video tutorial by Red Heart Yarns for additional reference. The entrelac crochet technique is basically squares worked in Tunisian simple stitches and joined together in a "join as you go" method, creating a beautifully textured patchwork of squares. Entrelac knitting is the knitting equivalent.

This pattern is also accessible because you don't need to get a Tunisian crochet hook just for this purpose. Because there will only be 6-7 loops on the hook at any one time, the pattern doesn't actually require the elongated Tunisian crochet hook. Unless the crochet hook has a very short shaft or you're using thicker yarn. I got by with my Clover Amour 2.5mm crochet hook, just had to be careful that I didn't push the loops too far down the shaft.

My work curled a lot. It practically became a roll that wouldn't stay flat. I had the same problem in my Hubby's crochet man bag project when I used the Tunisian simple stitch to make bag strap. There are a few ways to prevent curling but for these amigurumi ketupat, blocking with water worked well for me. (Sadly, blocking did not work for the crochet man bag though, as the strap continued to curl with use.)

I do find Tunisian crochet a little taxing on my wrist and thumb, especially if I use a non-ergonomic hook (I previously used an Addi double headed Tunisian crochet hook). I've yet to find a way to deal with that. But it is a "very addictive form of crochet", to quote Martin Up North. It is tempting me to try other Tunisian crochet stitches. Some of them have wonderful textures and I also wonder if I could incorporate some for my amigurumi kueh projects.

Anyway, on this final note, I shall end. I wish all Muslims in Singapore and around the world peace, goodwill and compassion. All the more so in this time of uncertainty, geopolitical conflict and instability.

Materials & Tools Used:

• Pattern: Amigurumi ketupat pattern by CrocheThea
• Yarn: Scheepjes Catona No.101 Candelight (pale yellow) and No.245 Green Yellow (yellow-green)
• Hook: Clover Amour 2.5mm crochet hook (the hook shaft is just about long enough for this amigurumi project)