Nothing makes you appreciate food and drink like fasting for 30 days! This Ramadan has been both difficult and easy. Difficult because of the heat and long days. But it has also been easier in a way because this is the first Ramadan after a very long time, that I had the pleasure of fasting while staying at my parents’ house.
.One of the many perks of fasting while at home is the delicious food my Mama makes (she’s the one who taught me to bake what I got!). Here is just a sampling of some of the delicious things she made so far this Ramadan!
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Sharbat (front) and Gooja (Back)
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The sharbat is a icy cold drink made with yogurt, milk, and sugar. This one that my Mom made has a pink consistency because it also has a shot of Rooh Afza. Rooh Afza is a popular drink concentrate in India/Pakistan/Bangladesh, which has a lot of ingredients but the most noticeable one is rose water. Rose water is definitely an acquired taste but sharbat is the perfect cold drink to have after a long day of fasting!
In the back is Gooja – a fried flour dough covered in simple sugar syrup. Compared to most South Asian desserts this is mild in sweetness and Gooja feels really light when you’re eating it. It’s easy to pop a few before you realize you’ve eaten 15!
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Dates (front) and Shingara (back)
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Dates are the traditional thing Muslims break their fast with. [Real talk: Muslims LOVE dates. No joke. It’s the crack-cocaine of our community.] The ones pictured are domestic California dates but we also have ones from the Arabian peninsula where there are quite a few varieties. My favorite is sweet soft Jordanian dates.
In the back we have Shingara which should not be confused with Samosas! Shingaras are pyramid-like in shape and have a thick fried flour shell filled with a veggie mix. This one had soft potatoes and peas. Yum!
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Boot (left) and Samosas (Right)
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We also had boot which is a type of pea – almost like a chick pea I guess. It is sauteed in onions and tomatoes (and here potatoes) and is usually eaten with moori a type of puffed rice, not unlike a rice krispie.
Also, pictured are samosas which I think are pretty self-explanatory. A thin pastry shell filled with minced meat (here we had chicken samosas).
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These were only some of the things we ate to break our fast. I got caught up in food preparation so I could not photograph all the food, but we also had haleem (a type of beef and lentil stew), peyajus (fried balls of onions in a falafel-type batter), and beguni (thin slices of eggplant fried in a chickpea batter).
Okay, I’m going to stop now because this post is making me hungry and I still have two hours of fasting to go!
Ramadan Kareem everyone!
Bake What Your Mama Gave Ya! 