Happy Muslim Mama: Friendship

One of my favourite things in Ramadan, being a bit of a greedy guts, is the lovely platters and dishes that friends and neighbours send each other. Although I cook mostly every day, having a big family, I do sometimes get tired of the taste of my own cooking and crave something else.  I like how sisters try to be creative and send their best dishes. I love the days when I don’t have to cook as much or at all. I am grateful for the love and dua’s that are poured into the food and that someone thought of us specially. I also like tasting food from different cultures.

I wanted to share some of the pics for inspiration, but realised I have deleted many of them, so these are downloaded from my Instagram stories.

This is from a very beloved Bengali friend, chicken biryani, sweet vermicelli (sevaiyan), black channa chaat and a platter of savoury treats including wraps, sausage rolls, bhaji’s and potato cutlets:

This is from a sweet Bengali neighbour who lives across the road who moved in recently and who we have ended up on very good terms with. Fresh piping hot biryani, chicken wraps, pakoray and shahi tukray, a kind of desi bread pudding.

More biryani: 

This was from a Gujarati family who I have a lot of love for. I have a weakness for Gujerati food having grown up with Gujarati neighbour whose daughter was my best friends and class mate. Their mum was an amazing cook and often sent food to us. The giveaway here is the dhokla which no Gujarati special occasion seems to be complete without. My fave is the sweetcorn bhaji which I have had at their house and is very nice.

One of my fave dishes, lamb pilau. This sister has just had a baby, I’m not sure I approve of her being in the kitchen already, may Allah (SWT) bless her and baby with health and comfort insh’Allah.

This was from a young sister from Karachi, so I fully expected the biryani to be on point and spicy, both of which I definitely was.

Another platter from a Bengali friend, a very sweet natured sister. She sent us channa chaat, aubergines fritters, bhaji, pakoray, mini pizza’s and another of my fave foods, aloo cutlets (tikki).

Noodles, chicken fillets and chips from my neighbour. She also sent me the milk cake which my siblings and friends have been making and not sharing. She shared and it tasted extra good.

Desserts and sweets from my sisters:

I can’t say what a pleasure it is to try these gifts of food from my sisters. So far the scorecard is:

Bengali’s – 3

Pakistani’s – 3 (counting neighbours but not sisters)

Guajarati’s – 1

 We still have a few days to see if this changes, I will be waiting for the doorbell to go at iftar time with baited breath 😊

May Allah (SWT)bless all of these sisters with an increase in their rizq, with the blessing of  a happy home, pious children and lazzat (the knack of cooking tasty food) always in their fingers. May Allah (SWT) be pleased with them and reward them with al of their hearts desires. I pray that Allah (SWT) is pleased with all of the women of this ummah who work in the kitchen cooking to the best of their ability, for their family to break fast with the foods they love. Ameen.

For the latest updates and  stories (including what we get up to during our days and what’s cooking for iftar) please do follow me on my Instagram account and Insta-stories.