Without realizing it, half of Ramadan has passed. As Muslim people are celebrating the holy month of Ramadan, we want to share an interesting culinary knowledge about what people from seven countries with most Muslims eat for break the fast.
Turkey
Like most Muslims around the world, iftar usually started with a glass of water and dates. However, there are popular items that are usually become standard staple during Ramadan, such as gullac (pudding-like milk dessert), pistachios, pastrima (cured meat) and sucuk (beef sausage). The tradition then followed by a full iftar dinner, which mostly consists of bread, salad, kebab, and sweet rice pudding.
Iran
In Iran, people break the fast with dates, traditional Azari cheese with vegetables and nuts and accompanied with a glass of tea. The full dinner afterwards, people can expect special delicacies on the table, such as Haleem, a porridge-like food made of barley, shredded meat, and spices; ash reshteh, a Persian style stew consists of mixed vegetables, fried onion, meat, nuts, beans, Persian noodle, and other ingredients; and sholeh zard, rice pudding with pistachios, cinnamon, and almond on top.
Egypt
The main meals during Iftar in Egypt are Molokheya, a tasty and nutritious soup made of mulukhiyah leaves with beef or chicken stock; Mahshi, rice stuffed vegetables; Rokak, stuffed pastry with minced meat; and Keshk, a savory treat which contains flour, chicken, oil and yogurt. However, before savor the big meals, people usually treat themselves with tasty drinks, such as Amar el-din, a juice-like beverage made of dried apricot and olive oil; and several drinks made of carob, tamarin, or licorice. These drinks are good to quench the thirst as well as to boost metabolism.
India
Normally, beside dates and water, juice and milk are also consumed in some households during Iftar in India. For the heavy meal, chicken and mutton recipes like chicken shawarma, mutton rezala, and dum Biryani are common staples amongst Indian Muslims. However, one thing that very popular during Ramadan in India is samosa. The internationally famed Indian snack is a to-go snack to break the fast in the second most populated country in the world.
Pakistan
There are similarities between Iftar food in Pakistan and India. The most favorite dish for Iftar in Pakistan is fruit chaat or also known as fruit salad. Its refreshing taste may be the reason people consume it to break the fast. Beside fruit chaat, some of other meals for Iftar are pakora (potato fritters), dahi baray (lentil fritters with yogurt and spicy chutney sauce), chanay, and jalebi.
Indonesia
In Indonesia, break the fast session is usually started with a plate of fritters and then continued with kolak, a fragrant coconut milk, pandan, and palm sugar soup with various fillings from banana to sweet potato.
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