Ketupat pulut, also known as ketupat daun palas in Malaysia, is mainly found in the northern part of the Malay Peninsula and among the Malay communities in southern Thailand. Ketupat bags are usually made from janur leaves or young palm leaves. However, in Kalimantan, nipah leaves can also be used and woven into ketupat.
Ketupat (in Indonesian and Malay), or kupat (in Javanese and Sundanese), or tipat (in Balinese)[4] is a Javanese rice cake packed inside a diamond-shaped container of woven palm leaf pouch.[5] Originating in Indonesia, it is also found in Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, southern Philippines, southern Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. It is commonly described as “packed rice”, although there are other types of similar packed rice such as lontong and bakchang.
Ketupat is cut open until its skin (woven palm leaf) is totally removed. The inner rice cake is then cut into pieces and served as a staple food in place of plain steamed rice. It is usually eaten with rendang, opor ayam, sayur labu (chayote soup), or sambal goreng hati (liver in sambal), or served as an accompaniment to satay (chicken or red meat in skewers) or gado-gado (mixed vegetables with peanut sauce). Ketupat is also the main element of certain dishes, such as ketupat sayur (ketupat in chayote soup with tofu and boiled egg) and kupat tahu (ketupat and tofu in peanut sauce).
Ketupat is related to similar dishes in other rice-farming Austronesian cultures, like the Filipino pusô or Patupat, although the latter is not restricted to diamond shapes and traditionally come in various intricately woven designs ranging from star-like to animal-shaped.[6] An octahedron-shaped version called katupat was also found in pre-colonial Guam and the Mariana Islands, before the ancient rice cultivation in the island was replaced by maize brought by the Spanish.
In various places in Indonesia, there is a ceremony called Lebaran Ketupat, which is observed after the conclusion of an extra six days of fasting following Idul Fitri.[5] In Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, thousands of Muslims celebrated Lebaran Ketupat—or Lebaran Topat as it is locally called—by visiting the graves of Muslim ulamas before partaking in communal ceremonial activities, which includes music performances, ketupat cooking competitions, to shared meals where ketupat was served as the main dish. Side dishes at the events varied, ranging from plecing kangkung (stir-fried water spinach) to the local dish of Ayam Taliwang.
In Central Java, Lebaran Ketupat is called Bada Kupat, and was celebrated by cooking and serving ketupat and lepet (steamed sticky rice cooked in plaited palm leaves) in Semarang. In Colo, Kudus Regency, a parade of gunungan (cone-shape offering) made of ketupat, lepet and other food items on the slope of Mount Muria near the grave of noted Muslim preacher Sunan Muria, was held to celebrate Bada Kupat, while on the slope of Mount Merapi in Boyolali Regency, the celebration featured a parade of livestock decorated with ketupat.
Among Hindu communities in Bali and Banyuwangi in East Java, ketupat is part of the offering and ritual of Kuningan festive celebration to conclude the Galungan holy days. During Galungan, Hindu families create and erect a penjor pole made of janur (young palm leaves), and then make some offerings to the Pura. Ten days after Galungan, the ceremony of Kuningan is observed to conclude the religious holy days. To celebrate Kuningan, Balinese Hindu families make tipat or ketupat first as offering, and then they consume some ketupat afterwards.
There are some striking similarities between Javanese Muslim Lebaran and Balinese Hindu Galungan-Kuningan holy days, of which ketupat is one. For example, the families pay a visit to the grave of their family or ancestors prior of observing the holy day, and they consume ketupat to conclude the religious festival.[10] Although today in contemporary Indonesia, ketupat is strongly associated with Muslim celebration of Idul Fitri, this parallel phenomenon suggested the pre-Islamic native origin of ketupat, as Native Indonesian ways to shows gratitude and to celebrate festivities by making and consuming certain kind of food.
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