Ramadan is a period of fasting for Muslims. They abstain from eating food and drinking water from sunrise to sunset. Muslims wake up early morning for the pre-dawn `Sehri’ meal renouncing food and water for the day and break their fast in the evening. The sumptuous evening meals are known as ` Iftars’.
Here are a few Iftar recipes…
Date Shake
Ingredients
Dates pitted and roughly
chopped - 15
Milk - 250 ml
Banana peeled and
chopped - 1
Ice cubes – a few
Method
Soak the pitted and roughly chopped dates in hot milk for an hour. Grind it in blender with the banana . Add the remaining milk and ice cubes and blend well. Pour into long glasses.
MUTTAMALA
Ingredients
Eggs - 15
Sugar - 500 gm
Water - 3 cups
Method
Separate the egg yolks and whites. Strain the yolks through a muslin cloth into a clean bowl. Add sugar and two cups of water in a wide heavy vessel.
Add some of the egg white. Place it on the fire. When it boils remove all the scum. Remove it from the fire and strain through a muslin cloth.
Heat it again and make a syrup of one-thread consistency. Clean a coconut shell and make a very small hole at the bottom. Fill it with egg yolk, closing the hole with your finger.
Remove your finger and pour the yolk in the boiling syrup in a circular motion to form chain-like strings. Pour it continuously until the egg yolk in the shell has been used up. By this time the yolk will be cooked. Reduce the heat and sprinkle a little cold water.
Remove the egg strings from the syrup without breaking them. Spread in a plate and keep slightly raised to remove the excess syrup. Use up all the egg yolks this way.
When the syrup becomes thick add a little water to bring back to a one thread consistency. Arrange the muttamala in a large plate and put pinnanathappam in the middle.
The leftover syrup can be used for making pinnanathappam.
PINNANATHAPPAM
Using the 15 egg whites, leftover syrup from muttamala and some powdered cardamom pods we can make pinnanathappam. Beat egg whites well.
Cool the muttamala syrup and add it to the egg whites. Beat till frothy. Add cardamom powder.
Heat water in an idli vessel. Grease a wide vessel and pour in the beaten egg white.
Steam it in an idli vessel till firm. Remove and cool. Cut into diamond shaped pieces and serve with muttamala.
ARIKKADUKKA
Ingredients
Mussels - 25
Grated coconut - Half
Boiled rice - 500 gm
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Aniseeds - 2 tsp
Small onion - Half cup
Oil - for frying
Salt to taste
For the masala
Turmeric powder
– Half tsp
Chilli powder - 2 tbsp
Aniseed - 1 tsp
Garlic - 4 cloves
Salt to taste
Method
Scrape and remove all the dirt from the mussels. Wash it several times in hot and cold water till completely clean.
Drain in a basket. Cut each one halfway down. Keep aside in a basket to remove excess water. Soak rice in hot water for 6 hours.
Wash and drain the rice. Add all the ingredients, except oil, to the rice and grind the rice to a thick paste.
Stuff the mussel neatly with rice paste.
Steam it till done. Remove from the fire and when it cools remove from the shell. Heat oil.
Mix the ground masala with little water and make a batter.
Dip each mussel in masala and fry in hot oil till done. Remove and drain.
