Ramadan food and drink habits

Every day before the sun sets, the sons and daughter of Nada Al-Attas in addition to their wives and children gather at her apartment to break the fast together. Al-Attas, a mother of six who hails from Makkah, cooks the bulk of the food, but her daughters-in-law help her, preparing one or two dishes at home. “I started making arrangements for Ramadan about a month ago,” she said, “preparing the sambusa dough and filling and shaping it into crescents, after which I kept the sambusas in the freezer.”
Apart from this fried or baked pastry stuffed with minced meat and onions, cheese, or vegetables, popular dishes at their iftar table are ful, mashed fava beans; kunafa, a cheese pastry soaked in syrup; and “Quaker”, the oat soup with chicken traditionally eaten here during Ramadan.
Ramadan customs vary greatly not only throughout the Muslim world; even in Saudi Arabia they differ from one family to another. The vast majority breaks their fast with dates and water, as was recommended by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Some, like Al-Attas and her children, follow this by eating other dishes, whereas other families pray first and then sit down for their main meal. One of them is Umm Muhammad from Jeddah.
“My sisters and brothers, daughters, sons, their spouses and children come to my home for iftar during the whole month of Ramadan. Every woman prepares one dish,” she said. Some of them stay at her place for the entire period of 30 days. Umm Muhammad and her family break their fast with dates, yogurt, and water. They then wait until the men come back from the mosque to have their main meal. “We eat cheese, meet, or vegetable sambusas, pearl barley or vegetable soup, and ful.” She added that soup and sambusa are her specialties. Umm Muhammad’s family indulges in sweets like baklava, ghorbalia, basbousa and kunafa after the Taraweeh prayers.
For Umm Marwan, Ramadan starts quietly, with only her husband, daughter and sons joining her for iftar. As the moon grows, her sister with her children joins them. They eat a small iftar of soup, sambusa, nadi lahma — Arabic for fried meat — and custard right after sunset. A bigger meal is eaten after the Taraweeh prayers.
A popular custom in many families is to watch TV series together. A must-see, though controversial, serial this year is “Omar”, a 31-part historic drama that depicts the life of Omar ibn Al-Khattab, the second caliph of Islam and a close companion of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
For cooking aficionados, Ramadan is the perfect time to try new recipes and excel in them. Umm Noor, mother of two, has iftar every day at her mother-in-law’s. She usually prepares several dishes that vary from day to day but often include kunafa, as she has become an expert in making this sweet and creamy pastry.
The fasting month also sees the consumption of popular drinks; some of them are only drunk during this time of the year. On every breakfast table in Saudi Arabia you will find water and qahwa, an Arabic coffee made from lightly roasted coffee beans and cardamom. Other popular Ramadan drinks are toot, a concentrated raspberry drink, and soubia, basically made of barley, brown bread, yeast, sugar, cinnamon, cardamom and water.
Some families also serve qamrideen, a drink made of dried apricot paste. The sheets of dried apricot paste are boiled in water with some sugar and a little rose or orange blossom water. Tamarind, a legume that comes from a tree native to tropical Africa, is during the holy month often blended into a refreshing juice by soaking it in cold water.

Nada Al-Attas’ oat soup recipe:
Ingredients:
1 onion, 1 tomato
3 to 4 cloves of garlic
1 chicken
5 to 6 tbsp quick cooking oats, such as Quaker
1 gauze bag with mixed spices for soups, found in supermarkets and bazars
20 g butter (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
lemon quarters, to serve

Method: Blend the onion, tomato, and garlic cloves in a food processor, but not until smooth – leave some chunks in there. Pour this in a pot with approximately 2 liter of water with salt to taste and bring to a boil. After 5 minutes, add the chicken to the pot. Boil for 15 minutes. Strain and keep the chicken stock. Shred the chicken into small pieces and add to the stock again.
Mix the oats in a glass of cold water, then add to the chicken stock. Boil for 5 to 7 minutes. After that, lower the fire and simmer the soup for approximately 45 minutes. Stir occasionally. Add hot water if the soup is getting too thick. Season to taste and add the butter if you wish. Remove from fire and serve hot with lemon quarters.

Umm Muhammad’s cheese sambusa recipe:
Ingredients:
2 cups of plain all-purpose flour, or a combination of plain and whole-wheat flour
3 tbsp of oil
pinch of salt
white cow cheese
sumac powder
parsley or cilantro, finely chopped (optional)
1 liter of oil for frying, or
1 tbsp of oil or baking parchment, 1 egg and some milk for baking
Method: In a medium bowl, mix flour, oil and salt until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Pour in water, using the amount necessary to make a smooth dough. Pat into a ball. Place on a lightly floured surface and knead 10 minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic.
Mix the white cheese with sumac and the finely chopped parsley or cilantro according to taste. Divide the dough into small balls. On a work surface with a thin layer of flour, roll each ball out and into a circle. Place a small amount of the cheese mixture in the center of each piece and seal the edges with a little bit of water and flour.
Traditionally, sambusas are fried. In that case, deep-fry sambusas in small portions in very hot oil until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels and serve warm. If you bake them, place the sambusas on a baking tray that is lightly greased or lined with parchment paper. Beat the egg in a bowl, add some milk to it, and lightly brush over each piece. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for approximately 10 minutes until golden brown.

Umm Noor’s kunafa recipe:
Ingredients:
1 can of qashta or thick cream
3 tbsp of milk powder
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 bag of kunafa threads, found in supermarkets and bazars
40 g butter
3 cups of sugar
4 cups of water
Method: Mix the qashta, milk powder and ½ tsp ground cardamom. Melt the butter in a pan. Shred the kunafa threads with your hands until large clumps are removed. Pour the hot butter on the kunafa and mix well until the kunafa absorbs all the butter. Place a quarter of the buttered kunafa in a baking pan and press down firmly by hand. Spread the cream mix over the kunafa, then top with the remainder of kunafa. Bake in a preheated oven (180 degrees Celsius) for 30 minutes or until golden and crispy.
While baking, make the syrup by mixing the sugar, water and ½ tsp ground cardamom over medium heat in a saucepan. Stir occasionally until the sugar dissolves. Boil it for 5 to 10 minutes and leave it to cool.
Remove the kunafa from the oven and pour sugar syrup on the surface. Set aside for 10 minutes to completely absorb the syrup. Serve the kunafa warm.