Aromatic beef porridge. Spicy snails. Rich mutton and wheat stew. Sweet vermicelli milk pudding, and lots and lots of dates. Ramadan may be a month of fasting, but for many Asian Muslims it’s a gastronomical feast.
Food is as much a part of Ramadan, the holy month, which began last week, as religious fervor, with Muslims devoting many hours to cooking the perfect meal to break the dawn-to-dusk fast.
The month is also a time for charity, with many mosques and wealthier Muslims donating or cooking food for the poor. “Ramadan is a big celebration for us in Asia, with a lot of special foods,” said Ichwan Syam, secretary-general of the Indonesian Ulema Council, the leading Islamic legislative body in the world’s most populous Muslim nation.
“Food is almost symbolic. It helps the poor, reminds Muslims of their social responsibility. It brings families together and it also brings joy after a day of fasting,” he said.
In Indonesia, no Ramadan would be complete without kolak, a refreshing dish made from coconut milk, starch, sugar and fruits, which is eaten as an appetizer at the fast-breaking meal.
Kraca, a modest version of the French escargot, is also a favorite starter. It is made from fresh paddy-field snails, washed and shells pierced, that are boiled with lemongrass, spices and best enjoyed by sucking the fiery liquid and picking out the flesh with a stick.
To finish off the meal, most Indonesians eat timun suri, a tropical, pale yellow fruit shaped like a papaya but with white juicy flesh, which is chopped and tossed with a milky syrup and topped with shaved ice.
In Malaysia, Ramadan means bubur lambuk, a special rice porridge cooked and distributed for free by the centrally located Kampung Baru mosque, one of Kuala Lumpur’s most famous, for more than 50 years.
Every day, hundreds of Muslims queue for hours to get a taste of the famed porridge, which was originally made by one of the mosque’s former imams. “It’s really nice, I can’t wait for Ramadan to taste the porridge,” said office worker Fareedah Hussein.
The exact recipe is a closely guarded secret but ingredients include coconut milk, beef, dried shrimps, ginger, cinnamon, star anise, cumin, Chinese celery, onions and fried shallots.