Iftar Specials From A Bohri Kitchen

Ramzan is a time for fasting, self-discipline, prayer and reflection. It also celebrates community and coming together over food, an integral part of Ramzan traditions. Those who fast do not have food or water between sunrise and sunset for an entire month. Iftar is the meal to break the fast in the evening after sunset during prayers. Home chef Lamiya Amiruddin shares some Iftar recipes with us that have been part of the family for years.

A home chef based in Mumbai, Lamiya Amiruddin runs her own venture. Lamiya studied Catering & Food Technology at Kamla Nehru Polytechnic for Women in Hyderabad. Her cooking mixes timeless, age-old recipes with her own twists and interpretations. Lamiya comes from the Dawoodi Bohra community and a family of seasoned cooks, which influences her food in the most delectable way. She shares some regulars on her Iftar table during Ramzan, with the memories she and her sister grew up with.

Keema Samosa

The preparation of the keema filling gives off the freshest aromas - when we were kids, every time our cook, Papamma, would start her prep, we would be drawn to the kitchen - the fresh smell of chopped green onions, the fragrance of chopped coriander, the spicy freshly roasted and ground jeera and the tangy tempting squeeze of lime. We’d shovel spoonfuls of this while she would swat our hands away - Bas! Samose ke liye kuch nahi bachega! As we grew older and started observing Ramzan fasts, we couldn’t taste the filling anymore, but the aroma of frying samosas to this day indicates almost as much as the call for prayer that it’s time to break fast; it’s time for iftar. By the way, Papamma always saved us a few spoonfuls of filling to eat after iftar!

Ingredients

1 kg mutton or chicken keema (mince)

1 tsp ginger-garlic paste

1 bunch spring onion, finely chopped

Salt to taste

2-3 green chillies, finely chopped

1 tsp cumin powder

1 small bowl coriander, chopped

1 small bowl mint, chopped

Juice of one lime

1 packet samosapatti

2 tbsp flour (made into a paste with water)

Oil for frying

1 piece of coal

1 tsp ghee (clarified butter)

Method

Mix the keema with ginger-garlic paste and salt. Boil till it is tender, and all the water evaporates. Add spring onions, green chillies, coriander, mint, cumin powder and lime juice to the mince.

Heat a coal till red-hot, place it in the keema and pour hot ghee over the coal. Close the lid of the vessel and smoke the mince for 5 minutes. Take one strip of the samosa patti in the palm and fold one corner to form a pocket in the shape of a triangle. Fill the pocket with the mixture. Fold the rest of the strip in the same shape and stick the ends with the flour paste. Deep-fry the patties till golden brown and serve with lime wedges and tomato sauce.

Suffut 

Suffut is a tradition in Lamiya’s family and an addition to the healthy food on her table. She warns that this isn’t exactly a children’s favourite, though she and the adults in her family love it. The dish is mainly prepared by Bohris from Surat in Gujarat, where Lamiya’s family originates from. It owes its origin to the Yemeni forefathers of the Dawoodi Bohra community. Traditionally made from lentil pancakes, Lamiya has substituted sada dosa here. You can also make it vegetarian if you wish by removing the mutton or chicken mince. Don't have dosa batter handy? You can also use bread instead of the dosa.

Ingredients

3 sada/plain dosas

1 large tub curd

300g mutton or chicken mince meat (omit if making vegetarian version)

I green chilli chopped (optional)

Half tsp ginger garlic paste

2 cucumbers grated

1 large carrot grated

Half a bunch spring onions, finely chopped

100g French beans, finely diced and boiled

1 small beetroot, boiled and grated (optional)

100g boiled peas (optional)

1 tomato, finely sliced (optional)

1 level tsp mustard powder steeped for 15 minutes in a tsp of warm water and beaten (Lamiya makes her own mustard that you can find here)

Half tsp sugar

Salt to taste

Method

  Rub the ginger garlic paste on washed minced meat and boil with the green chilli.

  Save the soup of boiled minced meat. Beat curd along with mustard paste, sugar, and salt. Lay one dosa on the serving dish, soak the dosa with some soup

  Spread some seasoned curd on the soup-soaked dosa. Cover the dosa with the portion of mince meat and liberally sprinkle chopped spring onion and grated cucumber

  Place the second dosa on top and repeat the same steps

  Put the final dosa on top and soak again with soup and curd

  Cover the whole dosa with all the prepared vegetables and the remaining mince in any preferred pattern

  To add an Indian twist to this dish, spread a layer of spicy green chutney on the dosa before putting curd.

Cover image: Ahmed Sabry/Pixabay

Do you have Iftar dishes that are special to you? If you are fasting, how do you usually break your fast, and what do you have at dawn before it begins? Share your food memories with us here.