SOMALI IFTAR – RAMADHAN RECIPES

by Karimah bint Dawoud

karimahscuisina@live.co.uk

as salaam alaikum honeys,

Inshallah you are all doing well and coping with this hot hot hot weather while we are fasting

Yesterday was amazing, I am amazed as a fairly new Muslim that I was able to make it thru, all praise is due to the Creator of all the worlds, mankind and djinn ameen.

When I first took shahada and became a muslim it was November , so since then there has been a slow creeping move into  hotter months and longer days, this is the first time that I have fasted for such a long time and in such hot weather.

 

 

As  revert convert to Islam I have a few different born muslim communites that are close to my heart and intwined in my personal culture; Moroccans are my first community, they were the main community in the area I took my shahda,they showed me deen and Islamic manners, then Bengalis, my Asian family, who I went to ummrah with, Ebrahim College to be exact. They  have shown me true brother and sisterhood mashallah.I love spending time in East London, haggling with my tailor and buying scarves in Whitechapel market.

Then there are Somalis, my best freinds, happy postive Islamic people, whose food is not that healthy but its great comfort food to break the fast after the first day of fasting.

Breaking the Fast

Hadith – Al-Tirmidhi #1989, Narrated Abu Hurayrah [Tirmidhi transmitted it.]

Allah’s Messenger   said, that Allah Most High said, “Those of my servants who are quickest in breaking their fast are dearest to me.”

Hadith – Sahih al Bukhari, Vol. 3, Book 31, Number 178, Narrated Sahl bin Sad

Allah’s Apostle   said, “The people will remain on the right path as long as they hasten the breaking of the fast.”

Hadith – Sahih al Bukhari, Vol. 3, Book 31, Number 182, Narrated Anas

The Prophet   said, “Do not practice Al-Wisal (fasting continuously without breaking one’s fast in the evening or eating before the following dawn).” The people said to the Prophet, “But you practice Al-Wisal?” The Prophet   replied, “I am not like any of you, for I am given food and drink (by Allah) during the night.”

I spent the whole day with one of my Somalis sisters, prayed together, shop together and broke fast together at her house, so lovely mashallah, as God would have it be and they even invited me for Eid, which is an important time for reverts to be included.

OK lets get down to basics – food!

We had a selection of samosa and fried things, being wheat allergic I  had to avoid some of them but the samosa were seriously succulent!!!

Then we had a very usual soup with porridge in it and it reminded me of  that Pakistani haleem soup must be like this. I enquired what was the grain in it and I was shown some crushed porridge oats. WOW!  So simple, I would love to make this soup and add a few Karimah kinks to it. It was lovely mashallah!

We also has some nice rice and meat dish , I have found a recipe here  from Tammy’s Somali Home

http://tammyssomalihome.blogspot.com/2008/06/somali-rice-with-raisins-and-onion.html

Somali Rice with Raisins and Onion Garnish served with Sweet Sukkhar and Fried Potatoes

This is enough for a family of 7. It can easily be halved.

Rice

3 cups of white basmati rice; rinsed until liquid is clear
1/4 cup of oil
1 onion; sliced
3 chicken cubes
4 cardamom pods
4 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
4 cups chicken stock (a little more might be needed)

1. Heat the oil in a flat bottomed pot.
2. Add onions, chicken cubes, cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon; saute until the onion are
translucent.
3. Stir in the rice and the chicken stock; cover and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat and cook until the rice is tender. This can take between 15 – 20 minutes.
5. Fluff with a fork.

Garnish

1 small onion; sliced
1/4 cup of raisins (I like to mix light colored raisins with dark one.)
1 Tb. ghee (clarified butter)

1. Melt the ghee over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and fry for 1 minute.
3. Add the raisins and cook for 1 minute.
4. Spoon the onion/raisin mixture over the rice.

I like my garnish to be orange. To do this, add food coloring to the onions before you cook them. I let the onions sit for awhile so the onions can absorb the color.

Sukkhar

1/2 lbs. beef; cubed (Sizes can vary. You will need to boil the beef a bit if they are too big.)
1/2 sm. onion; chopped
1 med. tomato; chopped
1/2 sm. green pepper; chopped
2 Tbs. Hoisin sauce
2 cloves garlic; minced
1 Maggi chicken cube
2 Tbs. oil

1. Fry the onions in the oil until translucent.
2. Add the tomato, garlic, and Maggi; cook, covered until the tomato is soft.
3. Stir and add the beef and Hoisin sauce; cover and simmer until the beef is cooked.
4. Add the green pepper and cook for 2 minutes. (They should be crunchy.)

Serve over rice. You can add fried potatoes to the dish.

It was all finished off with some nice ginger and peppermint tea, great  for the stomach when you have eaten too much.

I drank tooooooo much, I thought I was going to be sick, i think it was the 5 or 6 glasses of mango, nectarine orange juice not the food really. 

I have to try this rice  recipes and inshallah i will post on here along with the porridge soup but I think I will investigate Pakistani haleem and combine the 2 inshallah.

May Allah bless my Somali sistar 700times ameen, let us remember the Somali people in the drought , in our prayers and in our bank accounts by donating money to charity this ramadhan, Allah has given us this great opportunity to get so much reward by donating in this month rather than any other time, the rewards are multiplies

http://www.muslimhands.org/en/gb/

 Have a wonderful day everyone, I pray that Allah increase us all in patience, constancy and restraint of our tongue, our ears, out eyes and our actions ameen