Nibbles in Ramadan

Ramadan in summer poses a time challenge of sorts. There are hardly nine hours of time between iftar and sehri, whereas Ramadan in winter gives nearly twelve hours, without a scorching sun during the day. It becomes a precarious balancing act between eating too little, or stuffing yourself to bursting point.

The length of time right after the Maghrib Adhan, as it signals the start of the iftar, becomes a gorge fest for many while some simply settle for a drink of water. Between these two extremes lie a whole spectrum of edibles and thirst quenchers. And there is no wrong way in this gastronomic journey as long as your stomach agrees!

Right after iftar, still hungry stomachs force the body to scour for food around the house, and end up at the neighbourhood fried chicken joint (even though a gargantuan dinner is already being prepared at home).

To add to the food hunting, sehri too becomes another eating session to look forward to. Speaking of sehri, eateries go as far as to offer sehri buffets these days. Someone can actually enter one of these places for iftar and leave at sehri now, no strings attached!

Even street-side fry-up joints seem to pitch in for the nibbles game. Food options simply quadruple during the post-iftar time slot. One thing is for certain; be it a stove, or achulaor an oven in a top star kitchen to the street side — none get to cool down in this season.

For the busy denizens of the urban jungle, iftar over the weekdays is often taken on the roads without the creature comforts of home. In its heart, Ramadan is a time for abstinence leading to spiritual-exploration. Without fully embracing this key concept, it becomes mere food deprivation followed by stuffing oneself to indigestion.