A Diet Sabotaged!

Honestly, I can't think of any other way to describe it! My diet was coming on nicely and I was feeling good about it, and I mean real good about it. Then out of nowehere, Din, my brother, sent over a dish of sambal daging made by his maid. Hmm...that sambal daging - though not on par as emak's - looked delicious enough with its chili red sambal and the bits of meat in it. And I just knew from looking at the dish, my diet may have to take a short break. Little did I know then, emak had something else planned when she saw the dish!

When I came back for lunch earlier today, my very first glance at the table had my food senses tingling perhaps quite like Spiderman's senses does with troublesome menace. And though this was no menace, it was indeed troublesome - emak had prepared an impromptu lontong dish! Man, if there is one dish this house could never resist, then it must be lontong, no matter how impromptu it is!

Before I carry on, let me qualify why i stressed on the word impromptu.

The lontong dish we had for lunch and ashamedly I have to admit, dinner, was an incomplete lontong dish we don't normally have at home. This incomplete dish consist of: lodeh, sambal daging, boiled eggs, and nasi empit. If the tradition of this dish with our family is anything to go by, we know it was prepared without planning and hence, impromptu.

Lontong, is a must have dish during Eid Fitri for my family for as long as I can remember. Normally on the eve of Eid Fitri, all the children would peek into the kitchen wondering when emak would be asking at least one of us to give her a hand in preparing the dish that preludes the preparation of lontong - the sambal daging! And once the smell of chili being fried starts permeating the entire house, everyone would come into the kitchen just to get a verbal confirmation of it, then walk away to each personal task with a smile of eager anticipation. But it is only in the morning of Eid - normally after the prayers - would the family sit down and tuck in to a hearty breakfast of a full lontong course!

Apart from the sambal daging, lodeh, boiled eggs and nasi empit, the table spread would also have empeyek, peparu goreng, kuah kacang, and ayam goreng! Though ketupat and rendang would also be served, they are somehow overlooked by everyone including yours truly here. Nothing smacks our lips more than the sight of a bowl of nasi empit soaked in lodeh which is reddish in colour caused by scoops of the sambal daging! The empeyek provides with its crispy crunchiness; the peparu with chewy bites; the ayam goreng for some chicken tenderness; and the kuah kacang for the extra sweet taste it provides. Together, they make one wholesome meal that would be repeated for lunch and dinner. And if there are still leftovers, the next morning would see emak and I tucking to our fill again.

Back to the impromptu lontong, I now feel terribly guilty for having enjoyed it again for dinner just now; it was just something which I just could not resist, with the sambal daging being the biggest culprit. Alhamdulillah, though I am far from the being like a recently fed anaconda, I am contented.

The diet, like I mentioned earlier, was sabotaged...but one which was very much welcomed.