28 Recipes for Observing Ramadan

As a month of fasting begins, these flavorful dishes will enliven suhoor meals and iftar celebrations.

With Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, right around the corner, plans for suhoor and iftar meals, which bookend long days of fasting, are well underway across the globe. Below is just a sampling of recipes often found on tables across cultures and countries throughout the holiday, which is expected to begin on Wednesday, Feb. 18, in the United States and come to a close with Eid al-Fitr on Friday, March 20. Some are savory, others are sweet, but all are sure to satisfy.

1. Hilib Sambuus (Fried Beef Dumplings)

While chicken, tuna and other seafood variations of these samosa-related Somali fried dumplings exist, Ifrah F. Ahmed uses a more common spiced ground beef filing in her recipe. She also utilizes store-bought tortillas for the wrappers rather than making pastry from scratch, a welcome shortcut during large Ramadan meal preparations. A side of basbaas cagaar, a green hot sauce that comes together in 10 minutes, is a must.

Recipes: Hilib Sambuus (Fried Beef Dumplings) | Basbaas Cagaar (Green Somali Hot Sauce)

2. Carrot Maqluba

A traditional Palestinian dish, this striking mound of turmeric-tinged rice, tender meat and slivered carrots comes together in a single pot in one hour, making it a suitable option for concluding a day’s fasting. Reem Kassis’s version streamlines the often time-consuming recipe by opting for boneless rib-eye steak and good-quality store-bought broth.

Recipe: Carrot Maqluba

3. Chana Masala

The foundation of Zainab Shah’s chana masala is a simple spiced onion and tomato mixture with dried and fresh chiles, particularly common in the northern Indian state of Punjab. Both canned and dried chickpeas work here, the former yielding a comforting bowl of food in under 30 minutes.

Recipe: Chana Masala

4. Salted Lassi

After a day of fasting, nothing quenches thirst like a lassi. (Water can be boring!) The simple yogurt-based drink is versatile and oh-so-easy to make. This salty version from Zaynab Issa uses Himalayan pink salt, which promotes hydration. If your tastes lean sweet, throw in some frozen fruit and maple syrup and blend.

Recipes: Salted Lassi | Strawberry Lassi | Mango Lassi

5. Fatima’s Fingers (Tunisian Egg Rolls)

While many versions of these delicate fried pastries can be found across North Africa and the Middle East, they are usually made with malsouka pastry sheets. In this version, which Jamel Charouel adapted from his father, spring roll wrappers are used to encase a ras el hanout-spiced chicken and potato filling.

Recipe: Fatima’s Fingers (Tunisian Egg Rolls)

6. Gulab Jamun

“Growing up in Pakistan, this was my favourite dessert,” one reader wrote of this popular South Asian treat. The recipe starts with a soft and sticky dough that gets rolled into small balls and fried before being soaked in a rose water, cardamom and saffron syrup. Naz Deravian recommends serving them warm, with more syrup and chopped pistachios.

Recipe: Gulab Jamun

7. Fattoush

A light tomato and pita salad — seasoned with sumac and dried mint, and tossed with a garlicky dressing of pomegranate syrup, lemon juice and olive oil — is a refreshing way to break the fast. And this lovely recipe from Ramzi Osseiran, which Joan Nathan adapted, comes with rave reviews: “You won’t be disappointed,” one New York Times Cooking reader wrote.

Recipe: Fattoush (Lebanese Tomato and Pita Salad)

8. Lamb Biryani

A long-cooked biryani, like this one from Tejal Rao that’s layered with rice, herbs, caramelized onion, braised lamb and milk golden with saffron, is a labor of love, for sure. But after an overnight marinade and several hours of cooking, it’s a dish that feels especially celebratory, and one worth building an entire evening’s menu around.

Recipes: Lamb Biryani

9. Rooti Farmaajo (Honeycomb Cheese Bread)

This matrix of sweet and savory rolls from Ifrah F. Ahmed is cause enough for celebration. Like syrup- or honey-glazed Yemeni honeycomb buns, this pillowy bread, beloved in many Somali households, is stuffed with soft cheese. This rooti farmaajo is finished with creamy sweetened condensed milk and shreds of coconut.

Recipe: Rooti Farmaajo (Honeycomb Cheese Bread)

10. Chicken Kofta in Tomato Gravy

Zainab Shah’s tender chicken meatballs swim in a richly spiced tomato sauce that is wonderful spooned over rice and naan. The dish not only cooks in under an hour, but both the kofta and the gravy can be made ahead of time and frozen for up to three months — which can help make hosting feel more relaxed.

Recipe: Chicken Kofta in Tomato Gravy

11. Menemen (Turkish Scrambled Eggs With Tomato)

A before sunrise plate of Turkish scrambled eggs with tomato can comfort and satisfy in advance of a day of fasting. This recipe from Joan Nathan invites inventiveness. Incorporate your favorite fresh herbs and spices, top it with crumbled cheese and sausage, or serve it tucked in a piece of warm flatbread. Or don’t, and eat it as traditionalists do: simply, without much more than the tomatoes and eggs.

Recipe: Menemen (Turkish Scrambled Eggs With Tomato)

12. Qatayef Asafiri (Stuffed Semolina Pancakes)

Ramadan is incomplete for many without these sweet stuffed pancakes. Qatayef asafiri are the smaller of two common varieties of this treat, filled with cream, partly sealed and drizzled with a thick syrup. In this recipe from Reem Kassis, the filling is scented with orange blossom and rose waters, piped into the pancake cones and dipped in pistachios.

Recipe: Qatayef Asafiri (Stuffed Semolina Pancakes)

13. Chaat Party

Chaat is the ultimate build-your-own-adventure. Maneet Chauhan’s chaat party, adapted by Priya Krishna, is a quick, no-cook way to entertain. Often driven by a combination of sweet-and-sour tamarind chutney, a bright herb chutney (like this cilantro-mint chutney or this green chile chutney) and cooling raita, the base ingredients and toppings can all be interchanged. More crunch! More heat! More herbs! It’s entirely up to you.

Recipe: Chaat Party

14. Yvonne Maffei’s Dates With Cream and Chopped Pistachios

For a simple and elegant iftar opener, a dessert or a decidedly lavish snack, these crème fraîche-topped dates do the trick and then some. Adapted by Julia Moskin, this recipe requires only five ingredients and may just end up being the most popular item on the table. “An iftar without dates would feel very strange to all the Muslims I know,” said Yvonne Maffei, who writes a popular cooking and nutrition blog, My Halal Kitchen, and from whom this recipe was adapted.

Recipe: Yvonne Maffei’s Dates With Cream and Chopped Pistachios

15. Warak Dawali (Stuffed Grape Leaves)

Across the Arab world, warak dawali are a must-have at major celebrations. The work of making them is time-consuming — this particular recipe from Reem Kassis clocks in around 5.5 hours — but the results are delicious, especially when topped with lamb ribs or served alongside plain yogurt. They also freeze exceptionally well, so you can benefit from the fruits of your labor when it’s time to break fast.

Recipe: Warak Dawali (Stuffed Grape Leaves)

16. Chorba

There are many versions of this largely hands-off soup that are enjoyed during Ramadan and the winter season. This recipe from Nargisse Benkabbou features lamb, chickpeas, potatoes and noodles for a supremely hearty meal. The lamb is seasoned with turmeric and saffron, which gives the broth complex, warming flavors and tints all of the starchy bits a vibrant golden hue.

Recipe: Chorba

17. Mango Labaniyad (Creamy Custard)

Labaniyad, a beloved creamy custard dessert enjoyed in many Somali households, is a fixture during Ramadan. It’s often enjoyed as the sweet end to an iftar meal. While the custard base is not typically fruit flavored, Ifrah F. Ahmed’s recipe utilizes sweet, ripe mangoes for deeper flavor.

Recipe: Mango Labaniyad (Creamy Custard)

18. Opor Ayam (Indonesian Chicken Curry)

Perfect for special occasions, this stew is aromatic and luxurious, with tender chicken and a sauce silky with coconut milk. The recipe, which Tejal Rao adapted from the chef Retno Pratiwi, builds a curry paste on a base of caramelized shallots before flavoring them with ginger, galangal, lemongrass, salam and lime leaves, and ground coriander seeds.

Recipe: Opor Ayam (Indonesian Chicken Curry)

19. Namoura (Syrup-Soaked Semolina Cake)

Semolina, the coarse, yellow flour ideal for making couscous and pasta, is great in baked goods because of its high gluten content. This sweetly scented cake, adapted by Tejal Rao from Amanda Saab, a social worker from the Detroit area, uses frothy, aerated yogurt, not eggs, to achieve its rich flavor and texture.

Recipe: Namoura (Syrup-Soaked Semolina Cake)

20. Kunun Gyada (Spiced Peanut Rice Porridge)

Subtly sweet, warmly spiced and extremely comforting, this porridge from Yewande Komolafe is a gentle way to break a fast. After a solid soak in water, a bit of puréeing, straining and some cooking, two simple ingredients — uncooked rice and raw peanuts — transform into a creamy base, ready to be dressed with tamarind paste, honey or chopped dates.

Recipe: Kunun Gyada (Spiced Peanut Rice Porridge)

21. Kubbeh Pie

While the croquette version of this bulgur wheat-based dish is best known, many families opt for this much easier pie form when it comes to making kubbeh at home. With its combination of warm spices (cinnamon, allspice, cumin), toasted nuts, ground beef and cooked-down onions, this recipe from Reem Kassis can stand as a meal all on its own.

Recipe: Kubbeh Pie

22. Cucumber Yogurt Salad With Dill, Sour Cherries and Rose Petals

A fresh and flavorful salad is the perfect accompaniment to a more substantial and savory iftar main course. In this recipe adapted by Julia Moskin from the chef Sameh Wadi, a dill and dried mint-seasoned yogurt obscures bits of diced cucumbers and tart dried cherries, making each bite a surprising burst of flavors and textures.

Recipe: Cucumber Yogurt Salad With Dill, Sour Cherries and Rose Petals

23. Aloo Samosas (Potato Samosas)

These potato and pea samosas from Zainab Shah can be made in large batches and frozen for a quick and easy make-ahead finger food for iftar snacking. The vegan filling and crisp exterior are sure to satisfy every kind of eater, especially when paired with an herbaceous mint chutney.

Recipes: Aloo Samosas (Potato Samosas) | Mint Chutney

24. Harira Soup

A savory bowl of cinnamon-scented harira is a soothing and delicious way to end a day of fasting. While the Moroccan soup traditionally incorporates lamb, this version from David Tanis is vegetarian. But the absence of meat makes it no less hearty because the recipe includes fava beans, broken pieces of thin pasta and two types of lentils.

Recipe: Harira Soup

25. Seekh Kebab With Mint Chutney

This fragrant lamb kebab recipe, adapted by Alexa Weibel from the chef Chintan Pandya, works just as well rolled into meatballs and pan-seared as it does molded onto skewers. Just don’t skip the deggi mirch, a chile powder that does double duty by imparting both flavor and color in the ground meat.

Recipe: Seekh Kebab With Mint Chutney

26. Mrouzia Lamb Shanks

In this Moroccan tagine, Nargisse Benkabbou simmers supple lamb shanks in a stock generously seasoned with onion, garlic, ras el hanout, cinnamon and saffron, which is eventually reduced into a syrupy sauce with the additions of raisins and honey.

Recipe: Mrouzia Lamb Shanks

27. Soor iyo Dalac Bilaash (Grits and Tomato Stew)

A simply prepared but deeply flavorful stew of tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic and chile tops Somali’s version of grits in this recipe from Ifrah F. Ahmed. This comforting meal is a welcome sight at the iftar table in households across Somalia.

Recipe: Soor iyo Dalac Bilaash (Grits and Tomato Stew)

28. Pakora

Pakoras are the perfect catchall for just about any vegetable you have on hand. Naz Deravian’s version uses thinly sliced onion, potatoes and carrots, but broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potato, peppers or cabbage would work great as well. The recipe is forgiving: Don’t feel like slicing? You can grate or chop! Don’t feel like frying as guests are arriving? Make them ahead of time, store them in a closed container in the fridge and reheat the crispy fritters in a hot oven for a couple of minutes before serving.

Recipe: Pakora

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