![](\"https:\/\/www.simplyrecipes.com\/thmb\/N_Kgw9DZBAZm6yQEux9SWcIXAoY=\/5500x3557\/Simply-Recipes-Ramadan-Iftar-Essay-LEAD-OPTION-02-a4fbf74fddc942f9bc4a9d1cc9904790.jpg\")
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My son, Evren, started observing Ramadan last year at the age of 11. He came home one day and declared that he would be fasting. \u201cI know it\u2019s hard, Mamma, but Isa does it, so I\u2019ll have a buddy at school.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
I remember my own childhood, when we kept achirri roza\u2014an Urdu term meaning a “baby bird” fast\u2014where we only fasted for half a day as a gentle introduction to the practice. But my son insisted, \u201cNo, Mamma, I want to do the whole thing every Friday.\u201d The whole thing<\/em>, of course, being Ramadan\u2019s signature challenge: no food and no water from dawn until dusk.\n<\/p>\n That meant suhoor\u2014the pre-dawn meal before the fast begins\u2014and iftar, the meal to break the fast at sunset, would become central to our rhythm for the month ahead.\n<\/p>\n With Evren\u2019s first fast approaching, my husband, Zain, and I decided to split the responsibilities. He does the daily breakfast prep, so he would handle the pre-dawn meal, while I would take charge of the meal at sunset. Zain settled on oatmeal with nuts and roasted fruit, a nourishing option to provide steady energy.\n<\/p>\n I wanted the iftar meal to feel meaningful for Evren’s first fast. I had just returned from a conference in Chicago and didn\u2019t have much time to prepare, but I knew exactly what the main dish would be (it had to be one of my son\u2019s favorites).\n<\/p>\n Simply Recipes \/ Shayma Saadat\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/span> Growing up, iftar meals in my home were intentionally simple. My father believed that the spirit of Ramadan was best reflected in a straightforward meal\u2014plump, caramelized dates to break the fast, as per tradition, followed by whatever we ate regularly for dinner. The more elaborate spreads, with fried snacks like pakoras (a Ramadan favorite) and sweet treats, were reserved for weekends or when our family table would stretch to welcome guests.\n<\/p>\n While I do like making the simple, traditional Ramadan meals from my childhood, I wanted to mark Evren\u2019s first fast in a meaningful way. So, I put together a menu that felt both familiar and fun: chocolate tahini dates (which I keep frozen in batches for an easy, satisfying treat), chana chaat, and, in my son\u2019s words, \u201cMamma\u2019s world-famous chicken biryani.\u201d\n<\/p>\n As much as I love the meals I grew up with, I\u2019ve found ways to add variety and practicality to our iftar table. My chicken biryani, which was a special treat on Evren’s first day of fasting, is a little more elaborate, so on most evenings when he is fasting, I lean heavily on simpler dishes like one-pot pasta and chickpea curry. These meals have everything I want for my family in one dish: carbs, protein, and vegetables.\n<\/p>\n The same goes for the iftar snacks. Instead of deep-frying (typical for pakoras), I am turning to the air fryer this Ramadan. I plan to make zucchini chips, cauliflower buffalo wings, and French fries, all hot, crispy, and special. These small changes allow me to honor my family\u2019s Ramadan traditions while making iftar more manageable for my schedule as a working parent.\n<\/p>\n Simply Recipes \/ Shayma Saadat<\/p>\n <\/span> But of course, iftar is about more than just food\u2014it\u2019s also about community. What started as a way to support and nourish my son has naturally expanded into something more. His buddies will sometimes join us, eager to share in the meal whether they\u2019re fasting or not, from the same faith or not. That\u2019s the beauty of Ramadan: it\u2019s a season of togetherness, of opening your doors and sharing what you have.\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n For the main meal:<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n Snacky stuff:<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n Simply Recipes \/ Shayma Saadat<\/p>\n <\/span> #Sons #Ramadan #Fast #Blending #Traditions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My son, Evren, started observing Ramadan last year at the age of 11. He came home one day and declared that he would be fasting. \u201cI know it\u2019s hard, Mamma, but Isa does it, so I\u2019ll have a buddy at school.\u201d I remember my own childhood, when we kept achirri roza\u2014an Urdu term meaning a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[758,525,661,757,759],"class_list":["post-899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dinner","tag-blending","tag-fast","tag-ramadan","tag-sons","tag-traditions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artoz.xyz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artoz.xyz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artoz.xyz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoz.xyz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoz.xyz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/artoz.xyz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoz.xyz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artoz.xyz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoz.xyz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoz.xyz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n My Favorite Dishes for Suhoor <\/span> <\/h2>\n
Breaking the Fast With Iftar <\/span> <\/h2>\n
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