Lack of supplies during the lockdown has affected Iftar spreads during Ramadan, but these recipes can help you make the most it
Masale wale aloo
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Serves: 2
Although it’s a staple every Ramzan, what’s convenient about this dish is that potatoes are easily available even during the lockdown. "It’s a must-have at least a few times over the course of the entire month," says Shabana Salauddin of Ammee’z Kitchen, who gives us the recipes.
Ingredients
300 gms – Baby potatoes (boiled with skin)
4-5 tbsp – Oil
Salt as per taste
For masala
3 tbsp – Ginger garlic paste
2 – Green chillies finely chopped
1 tbsp – Kashmiri red chilli powder
1 tbsp – Coriander and cumin powder
½ tbsp – Turmeric powder
½ tbsp – Dry mango powder
¼ tbsp – Garam masala powder
1 tbsp – Lemon juice
Shabana Salauddin in the kitchen with her mother
Garnish
1 tbsp – Sesame seeds
Coriander and chopped green chillies
Method
Combine all the masala ingredients (except the lemon juice) with ½ cup of water to form a paste. Heat the oil in a kadhai and add the masala paste. Cook the masala till the oil leaves the sides of the kadhai. Throw in the baby potatoes and coat it well in the masala. Add salt and lemon juice. Cover with a lid and cook for another two minutes. Garnish with sesame seeds, chopped coriander and green chilies.
Choi che keli
Serves: 6
This dessert of bananas stuffed with coconut is a traditional Kokani Muslim recipe that helps satisfy your craving for sweets in the holy month.
Ingredients
6 – Elaichi bananas
3-4 tbsp – Desi ghee
2 cup – Freshly grated coconut
¼ tsp – Cardamom powder
¼ cup – Milk with saffron strands
½ cup – Powdered sugar
A pinch of salt
Chopped almonds and pistachios, and saffron for garnish
Method
Warm 1 tbsp desi ghee in a pan and sauté the grated coconut on a low flame. Once the colour starts to change a bit, add the salt, sugar, cardamom powder and milk, and sauté for a minute. Do not leave the pan unattended, else the coconut will stick to the bottom of the pan, and burn. Remove in a plate and divide into two parts. Peel the bananas and cut them only up till 3/4th of each, length-wise. They have to be attached to their ends. Take one part of the coconut mix and stuff them equally in the bananas. Keep aside. Heat a pan and add the remaining ghee. Place the stuffed bananas and fry them evenly on all sides, till you get a light golden colour. Be careful and gentle while turning them. Remove and set aside. In the same pan, add the remaining coconut mix and place the stuffed fried banana on top and cook for another three to five minutes. Garnish with dry fruits and saffron. Serve warm.
Join a virtual Iftar
With social distancing the new norm, Iftar parties have taken the digital route. Filmmaker Rahsaan Noor is someone who’s organised a few, and he says, "I saw people having different types of interaction on the Zoom app. So I thought, why not use it to replicate the community feeling of Iftar? We generally break our fast together, before conversations."
Handy tips
1 Keep soya chunks or granules in your kitchen. They act as a replica for meat, which isn’t available in abundance right now.
2 Unlike previous years, restrict yourself to one or two starters and sherbets, and make something like Rooh Afza with water instead of milk to conserve rations.
3 Potatoes and besan are also kitchen must-haves because of their versatile nature.
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