A tryst with Iftar food

Iftar or Fatoor (Arabic: إفطار‎‎ ʾifṭār  ‘breakfast’) is the evening meal when Muslims end their daily Ramadan fastat sunset.

The fast is broken at the time of the call to prayerfor the evening prayer.Iftar is one of the religious observances of Ramadan and is often done as a community, with people gathering to break their fast together. Iftar is taken right after Maghrib time, which is around sunset. . Recently I was invited by the team of Le Meridien for an Iftar meal and it was a fabulously set Ramadan special menu.

Traditionally but not mandatory, three dates are eaten to break the fast and hence I had the privilege of starting my meal with dates followed by a small portion of grapes and kiwi fruit.

Then  the chicken kebabs and shorba was served. The thali of food which had a sumptuous delicacies was served thereafter.As chef Abu backer told me that the menu is changed everyday. Typically a salad ,dal , subz miloni and biryani is a part of the menu. The  veg gravy ,Haleem and everything else was mouth watering . Finally were the desserts which were a mix of ksheer korma,  Gajjar halwa ,double ka meetha.

The Chef Abu Backer shared the recipe of Haleem and ksheer korma which I have to share with all of you . The marvel that the food that was served makes it one of the memorable experiences to cherish and a lovely Iftar party I attended , definitely recommend it to all my friends. The Iftar dinners are held on weekends and the dinner timings are 8 pm onwards and it goes through the night. The whiff of delicious food and savouries, the sight of delectable spread, the festivity in the air makes it a memorable moment for me.

• Ramzan Thali consist of the following
• Chicken starter
• Marag shorba (spiced lamb broth)
• Tossed salad
• Peshwari kadai murgh
• Miloni tarkari
• Baingan mirchi ka salan
• Bum gosht biriyani or subzi pulao
• Steam rice
• Raitha
• Dal tadka
• Tawa chapati//tawa paratha
• Dessert gulab jamun / icecream

Sheer korma

Ingredients 

• Milk 500 ml
• Ghee 50 gms
• Sugar 100 gms
• Broken seviyan100 gms
• Cashews chopped 7-8 Nos
• Almonds sliced8-9 Nos
• Unsalted pistachios8-9 Nos
• Dates seedless8-9 Nos
• Cardamoms powder3 gms
• Chironji 50 gms
• Golden raisins25 gms
• Rose water 5 gms

Method 

• Roast the seviyan till golden and keep aside.
• In the same pan. heat ghee and add chopped dry fruits and sauté ill they turn brown.
• Heat milk in a saucepan and let it come to a boil. lower the flame and simmer for 15 minutes till the milk slightly thickens.
• Add the roasted seviyan and sugar to the milk and simmer till the seviyan are cooked and have become soft for about 10 minutes on a low flame.
• Add the fried dry fruit mixture, let the korma blend well simer for 5 minutes then add cardamom powder.
• switch off the fire and stir.
• Garnish sheer khurma with saffron strands.

Haleem

ingredients

Method 

• Heat ghee add whole garam Masala (Cardamom, Cinnamon, Cloves, Bay leaf) allow it to crackle.
• Add ¾ of ginger garlic paste sauté till the moisture is evaporated add turmeric powder ¼ of mint and lamb broil till the lamb pores are completely sealed, add green chilli and sauté.
• Add soaked broken wheat and gram lentil sauté then add stock and sufficient water to cook the meat till soft.
• Add potli ka masal tied in muslin cloth through the process.
• Cook till the meat is very well done and hit the meat against the wall of handi with the help of ladle to break the lamb in to fine texture.
• Heat the remaining ghee add ginger garlic paste and turmeric and fried onion sauté and add the haleem paste cook till the excess moisture is evaporated and the desired texture is obtained.
• Season with salt, fisnish with lemon juice and garam Masala powder.
• Serve hot with lemon wedges, fried onion on the side.