Festival of Sacrifice




Eid al-Adha (Arabic: عيد الأضحى‎ ‘Īdu l-’Aḍḥā) or "Festival of Sacrifice" or "Greater Eid" is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to commemorate the willingness of Abraham (Ibrahim) to sacrifice his son Ishmael (Ismail) as an act of obedience to God, before God intervened to provide him with a ram to sacrifice instead. The meat is divided into three parts to be distributed to others. The family retains one third of the share, another third is given to relatives, friends and neighbors, and the other third is given to the poor & needy. Learn More in Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_al-Adha)
First time in my life I sacrificed in this year’s festival of sacrifice. There is an organization called Kimse yokmu (www.kimseyokmu.org.tr) which is nonprofit organization and mission of helping to the people. People around the world can donate money over the internet and organization depend the needs of the people (most commonly with food) helps them. First time in this year they want to help people around Cali, Colombia. In Cali we have give away 270 kg of meat and in Buenaventura which is 3 hours away from Cali we give away 650 kg of meat.
Today I will make “Kavurma” and hopefully all my family in Cali, Colombia will enjoy this traditional Eid al-Adha dish. Kavurma meaning is roasting but against to name we will cook this meat with its own juice in very low heat. Also we will serve this meat with classic rice pilav but little touch of my specialty.

Ingredients for Kavurma
·  1 kg Boneless Lamb Stew Chunks
·  150 grams unsalted butter,
·  Salt pepper to taste,
·  For Garnish, 1 tsp oregano

In a large pot melt the butter and place lamb with little warm water. Cook on low heat, with lid close (make sure meat is not drying out, it would burn so if you need add more water). Simmer until most of the water evaporates. This will take approximately 4 to 5 hours. Check the meat with tasting it if it is tender enough, sprinkle some dry oregano and salt and black pepper on top and cook little bit more until those new ingredients integrated with meat.

Ingredients for Pilav
·  1 cup rice, washed and drained
·  2 cups water
·  1 tbsp butter
·  1/2 cup sesames
·  1 tsp salt

Roast the sesames in a medium-sized pot with butter (10~20gr) until they're light brown. Put aside.
Pour the water in a medium sized pot along with salt and butter. When it starts boiling, add the rice. Cook on low heat with the lid half covered until the water has evaporated. When rice cooked then add roasted sesames and stir. Serve while still warm.