Ramadan

Food is always used to help celebrate events, and in my culture, I distinctly remember Ramadan for its emphasis on food. Ramadan is a holy one-month long observance in which people fast throughout the day, which has been continued for centuries. When it is time to break fast, there is a huge feast presented to recognize the holiday, and give thanks to what we have.

This feast is very important because it is a time for the community, friends, and family to spend quality time together. People connect over food; neighbors invite other neighbors to their houses, long-time friends come together, and mosques provide feasts for all the people, which can include well over 2,000.

The food is typically traditional food, but there are a few foods that are made particularly for this celebration. Every fast must be broken by eating a date and drinking a glass of water, while reciting a surah, which is a prayer.
Appetizers include fruit chaat and chaat apri, which is a delicious concoction of fruit and Pakistani spices, and dall, onions, fried dough, also mixed with spices. Pakoras, a potato deep-fried in batter is also a typical dish feasted upon during Ramadan. Also, a varied assortment of very fattening sweets accompany the meal, such as ladoo, halwa, gulaab jamuun, or jalebi, which is basically some sort of sugary fried dough, occasionally coated in syrup.

In my family, the main components of food traditions occur throughout Ramadan. When Ramamdan comes around, my family always look forward to the great big dinners we share together as a family.