Ramadan is the ninth month of the islamic calendar and the holy month of fasting ( One of the five pillars of islam). Ramadan begins and ends with the appearance of new crescent moon.
The daily fast starts when morning prayer is called, and continues during the daylight hours, and ends at sunset with the evening prayer call. The meal which is usually had before the fast is called suhoor, and the one with which fast ends is the ifthar.
Here we present you collection of ifthar snacks, desserts, drinks and many more.
This chicken starter/snack is crunchy outside and juicy inside. Its best for ifthar as well as starters. Its simple, easy and yummy recipe. I have marinated the chicken stripes in spicy masala. Its completely optional. You can just add pepper and salt to season the chicken and proceed with the method.
Cooking time : 20 minutes
Ingredients : Chicken marination :
Boneless chicken – 500 gms
Red chilly powder – 2 teaspoons
Turmeric powder – 1/2 teaspoon
Salt – to taste
Ginger garlic paste – 1 teaspoon
Garam masala powder – 1/2 teaspoon
Lime juice – of 1/2 lime For coating :
Eggs – 2
Samosa sheets – 1 packet
Method :
Clean the chicken and cut them into stripes. ( Note: I have cut into short thin stripes. You can also cut into long stripes). Add all the ingredients mentioned under Marination into a bowl , mix well and marinate the chicken stripes.
Cook the marinated chicken in cooker or open pan till its cooked. Remove the chicken and cool them. Insert toothpick ( if short stripes) or bamboo skewers ( if long stripes) into the chicken and keep aside.
In a bowl , whisk the eggs well.
Cut the samosa sheets ( or spring roll sheets ) into thin stripes using knife or scissor, holding all together in a stack.
Dip the chicken in the egg and roll over the samosa stripes well. Press the coated chicken gently with fist. Follow these steps for all the chicken stripes and deep fry on medium flame till golden brown.
Crunchy chicken screwdriver is ready to serve with favorite dip.
shami Kabab is a very popular non-veg starter originating from the Indian subcontinent . These kababs are basically flavorful meat patties, which are crispy on the outside and smooth inside.These kababs can be made of mutton or beef.
Shami kababs are ideal for ifthar, school lunchbox , starter etc.
Step 1 : Put (A) ingredients with 1.5 cups of water in a pressure cooker and cook till meat is half done (4-5 whistle). Switch off the flame. Let the pressure settle.
 Step 2 : Now open the pressure cooker , add (B) ingredients with 1/2 cup water and pressure cook for 2-3 whistle or until the meat and dal are well cooked. Switch off the flame. Let the pressure settle.
Step 3: Open the pressure cooker. Turn the heat high and dry it completely. Make sure that the dal doesn’t become too mushy. Turn off the heat and let it cool.
Step 4 : Once cooled, finely chop the meat and dal mixture.
Step 5 : Mix Ingredients (D) in a bowl and leave for 10 minutes
Step 6: Mix ingredients (C) together in a large mixing bowl.
Step 7 :Then add the meat mixture and the onion mixture to it. Combine very well.
Step 8 : Make kababs of desired size.
Step 9 : you can deep freeze these kababs for 2-3 weeks in an air-tight container or zip-lock bag. While keeping in air-tight container , I separate each layer with a wax paper so that it is easy to remove.
Step 10 : Shallow fry these kababs until it turns golden on both the sides.
The delicious shami kabab is ready. Serve it with you favorite dip.
Chicken bites or chicken pops is yet another snack that can be prepared for ifthar . It is also called ‘toothpick chicken’ as the ingredients are pricked into the toothpick before frying. Eating tip – Pop the entire chicken bite at once into the mouth to relish the real taste of it.
Step 1 : Cook chicken with pepper, turmeric  and salt.Once cooked, cut it into bite / chunk size pieces. Peel and Cook Potato with salt. once cooked, cut potato also into bite/chunk size pieces.
Step 2 : (Optional) Apply Green masala paste to chicken pieces ( this is to make it spicy).If you don’t have green paste , just make a paste of 1 greenchilly, ginger-garlic paste (1/5 teaspoon) , 1/4 teaspoon coriander powder, 3-4 mint and coriander leaves.
Step 3: Take a toothpick . Prick chicken , onion , potato into it.
Step 4 : Break open an egg into a bowl and whisk it. Take a little maida and breadcrumbs in separate bowls. Dip the pricked chicken pops into egg; then dust it with maida. Then again dip it in egg and roll it over breadcrumbs
Step 5 : Heat enough oil in a kadai.When it is hot, deep fry the chicken pops until golden brown on all the sides.
The Chicken pops / chicken bites are ready!!! Serve it with your favorite dip.
Fenugreek rice porridge in coconut milk which is known as meththero kanji in Beary language. It’s a healthy, simple rice dish made with rice, coconut milk and fenugreek seeds which is called as meththe in Beary. Its especially made during Ramadan , to have after ifthar, but also recommended during post delivery because of its highly nutritional values.
Here is a small description about our beary community. 🙂
Beary is a community concentrated mostly along the Coastal Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka state, India. It has its own unique traditions and distinct cultural identity.
The language spoken by Bearys is Beary Baashe. The language has high influence by the Arabic and also has words derived from Tulu ( local language of mangalore), Malayalam and Tamil. The beary cuisine is highly influenced by the Southindian cuisine. A few traditional popular dishes are Pinde ( steamed rice dumplings), Syame ( idiyappam), Guliyappa ( paniyaram), Poo-pole( near dosa) etc.
We are called as Bearys 🙂
Coming back to recipe, thengero kanji is very simple and one pot meal.
Preparation time : 10 minutes
Cooking time : 15 minutes
Serves : 4
Ingredients :
Jeera rice – 1/2 cup
Water- 2 cups
Fenugreek seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
Coconut milk – 1/2 cup , thick
Salt – 1/2 teaspoon
Method :
Soak the fenugreek seeds in water for 10 minutes.
In a cooker, add washed and drained jeera rice, water, fenugreek seeds, salt and cook on medium – high flame for 4-5 whistles. Let the pressure settle. Open the lid and stir the porridge.
Then add coconut milk , let it boil for 5 minutes on low flame.
Serve hot with pickle, vegetable poriyal.
You can also add a teaspoon of ghee to the porridge and stir, before serving to enhance the flavour.
Note:
This porridge can be prepared without fenugreek seeds too. Which is known as “thengero kanji” aka rice porridge in coconut milk. Thenge is coconut in beary. Recipe remains same without fenugreek seeds.
Check our Ramadan post for variety of ifthar snacks, drinks, desserts.
An easy and delicious dessert ever is the classic custard. Adding fruits to this creamy delicious custard fits all occasions, be it ifthar or get togethers.
Banana pola is a traditional malabar snack. Also known as kaipola ,it is a sweet snack with banana and egg as the core ingredients. It is an ideal tea time snack as well as ifthar snack. It is definitely a healthy sweet snack for kids.
Preparation time : 7 minutes
Cooking time : 30 minutes
Ingredients :
Big Banana/ plantain (ripe) Â – 2 (peel and cut into square pieces)
egg – 4
milk – 1 cup
cornflour – 2 tablespoon
cardomom powder – 1 teaspoon
sugar – 8-10 teaspoon
ghee – 3 tablespoon
Method :
Step 1 : Heat 1-2 tablespoon of ghee in a pan . saute banana in it until it turns golden brown. Add 1 teaspoon sugar and combine well. Remove from flame.
Step 2 : Blend together eggs , milk, cornflour , cardomom powder and sugar in a blender. (Tip : mix cornflour in a small amount of milk well before putting it into the blender)
Step 4 : Heat a pan and grease it with ghee well. pour the mixture so that it covers the entire pan. Cook it covered on low flame for about 20 minutes (or until its bottom turns golden brown)
Step 5 : Turn it over and cook for another 5-10 minutes (to give golden brown color on both the sides)
Turning over tip : To flip over, Place a plate on top of the pan. Turn it over so that the banana pola falls on to plate. Then slowly transfer it back to the pan .
Once it is cooked, Cool it down. Cut it into desired shapes and sizes and serve.
Note :
you can either prepare 2 thin banana pola or one thick banana pola using the above mentioned quantity of ingredients. In case, you wish to make 2 thin banana pola, repeat the above steps twice with 2 equal portion of the mixture.
If you wish to, you made also add fried nuts to the mixture to enhance the taste.
