Breaking Fast

While breaking fast is often a family affair done at home, many people enjoy iftar at a restaurant.  Many high-end hotels offer pricy, all-you-can-eat buffets that are gut busting. I often wonder if people truly are fasting – how is it physically possible to eat so much food when you have been fasting all day? Maybe because of my eating habits, metabolism, and dislike for waste, I have a hard time going to these gluttonous affairs.  Note to fans: if you want to prove me wrong and show me a fancy night out at a 4 star hotel iftar, please contact me.

What I like about breaking fast at a restaurant is the anticipation that fills the room.  The tables tend to be already set with the iftar.  However, no one takes a bite until it is sunset, which is usually announced by the wait staff.  There is something about having food sitting in front of you and not digging right in. Torture for some, appreciation for others.

This Ramadan I’ve been to 4 iftars at restaurants.  Here are my experiences:

Noodle House:  offers a 95sr set-menu iftar. 4 courses – appetizer, soup, main course, desert, and choice of soda or fresh fruit juice. This does not include the fresh dates and kawa that are served right at sunset. The best part of this set is the fresh dates and the fresh juice. While not all of the choices are vegetarian, everything is fresh and cooked to order and they gladly accommodate various dietary restricions.

Red Chilli: offers a 10sr iftar.  Note: this is only iftar and does not include a full dinner or buffet afterwards.  The iftar is modest, but just enough for breaking fast.  We had chaana chaat, fruit chaat, samosa (with cashews inside – nice touch!), pakora, and mint chutney. Dates and an artificial type juice (Tang?) were also served.  Best part of this set: it’s 100% vegetarian, the fruit chaat was delicious, and the spice level of all of the food was perfectly spicy. The worst: Tang? - Please. [please note that they are currently closed for renovations and will re-open after Ramadan]

Marhaba: not sure of the price, but their iftar includes a buffet.  The iftar set out on the table had dates, rose water drink, pakora, samosa, 2 types of chaana chaat (one with yogurt, one sweet + sour one with a lot of onions), and mint chutney.  Perfect amount for 3 people.  The buffet included veg and non-veg Pakistani dishes, Pakistani and Arabic salads, and both Pakistani and Arabic desserts.  Best part of this set: the spice level of all of the food was perfectly spicy, the um ali was delicious, as was all of the desserts that I sampled.  While Marhaba is not my favorite Paki restaurant in Riyadh, I definitely recommend their iftar.

La Sani: not sure of the price, but their iftar includes a buffet.  The iftar set out on the table had dates, rose water drink, pakora, samosa, chaana chaat, and mint chutney.  Pampadums with dipping sauces were also present.  This was way too much for only 2 people and pampadums are the kiss of death – so delicious and tasty, but I swear they expand in your stomach.  The buffet included veg and non-veg Pakistani dishes, both Pakistani and Arabic salads, and all Pakistani deserts.  Best part of this set: the buffet was not overwhelming – a good amount of choices, but not too many; desserts were fantastic.  Worst part: spice level was not as good as other spots and I felt like there was too much waste at iftar.  While I like this restaurant for regular dining, I wouldn’t recommend it as a top iftar location.

What's your favorite restaurant for iftar? Hungry people want to know.

kushari/koshary/kosheri/koshari

Ingredient #1: rice (with vermicelli)

Ingredient #2: two types of pasta

Ingredients #3 & 4: lentils & chickpeas

Topping: fried onions

A humble dish from Egypt, kushari was on the top of the "things to eat" list while visiting family.  Like all unofficial national foods (makes me think of pizza and bagels in NYC/NJ), everyone has her own opinion on where the best kushari can be found.  We did our job and tried as many places as our stomachs would allow so we could judge for ourselves.

Condiments: hot sauce, garlic infused vinegar, sea salt

Add to your liking: tangy tomato sauce

First Taste of Kushari - Leftovers "re-fried" at A+Ls

Before the Condiments Are Added

Take-Out Kushari For a Long Bus Ride, Dahab

 So far, we've like all of the kusharis sampled.  We have not yet made this dish at home (I'm a bit intimidated of crisping up onions for the topping).  Luckily, we have been able to find kushari in Riyadh - the campus restaurant serves up a delicious version and we found an Egyptian spot that serves it up as well.  The downside to the Egyptian restaurant is that it is for men only, so we had to get ours for take-out.  Please try to imagine the torture it is to drive home on the busy streets after midnight during Ramadan, stomach crying out from the smell of garlic and spicy sauce floating in the air circulating in the car. 

Tabouleh, another gateway food to vegetarianism

The origins of tabouleh (spelling varies depending on transliteration system used) are decidedly Middle Eastern.  Exactly where is up for debate, although Lebanon is claiming the titile.  If a restaurant serves mezes (appetizers or small dishes), then they serve tabouleh.  Tabouleh is a lovely and refreshing salad that is perfect for the hot desert climate.  I remember as a teenager making tabouleh out of a box (gasp!).  In NYC, tabouleh is plentiful at falafel or fast food type spots that serve Middle Eastern and Israeli cuisine.  What I love about the tabouleh in the Kingdom is that the focus is more on the fresh herbs - the mint and the parsley is the star of the show and not the bulgur wheat.

Serves 8 (if you are serving it as a meze)

1/2 cup of bulgur wheat

1-cup water

2 tomatoes, diced

1-cup of fresh parsley, chopped (stems and all)

1/4-1/2 cup of fresh mint, chopped (leaves only) - optional

1/2-1 lemon

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 of one red onion (finely chopped) or some scallions (whites and greens, chopped)

Fresh ground black pepper

•  Heat the water and pour it over the bulgur wheat.  Cover and let sit for 15-30 minutes.  All of the water should be absorbed and the wheat should be tender.  If it is too watery, drain the excess water.
• Squeeze half a lemon and the olive oil into the prepared bulgur wheat, stir.
• Add the rest of the ingredients, stir.
• Taste!  If the salad needs more acidity, add the other half of the lemon.  More olive oil can be added if necessary.

The Spice Route

Being in the Arabian Peninsula, one has easy access to spices from around the world.  Food is quite international, with neighboring countries influencing one another along with the large amount of expats from India and other South Asian countries.  I have yet to visit the major spice souq (seller/store), but still have had plenty of spice choices.  Easy access to quality spices is one of the things I was looking forward to upon preparing for my first trip to the Middle East.  I am still asked by my father about the prices and quality of the saffron, and when will I be shipping some over.  [Sorry Dad, I am still looking for the best deal…]

In every neighborhood or town, it seems as if there is a local dry goods shop, featuring spices and nuts in bulk.  Our local shop is right next to a major park that also caters to families and children, keeping the sodas and candies towards the front of the store.  Towards the back is a tempting display of various nuts, spices, and coffees (Turkish and Arabic beans).  We have purchased whole bean Arabic coffee and whole cardamom pods.  While the store clerk can and will grind coffee and cardamom, I prefer to grind them myself.  Coffee and cardamom, like other spices, taste better and are closer to their original state when ground just before use.

Even in New York City, one must know exactly where to go for bulk spices: in Hell’s Kitchen a friend of mine introduced me to an amazing bulk store for za’atar, and I would go out of my way to the Indian neighborhoods in Jackson Heights, Queens or by 28^th Street for Indo-Pak bulk spices.  Growing up with a family who heavily relies on spices, I was taught that one must go to specialty stores (or “ethnic” stores as some may say) for quality goods.  I admit that I am disturbed that people purchase and use spices from the spice isle of their grocery store or mega mart.  It has been instilled in me from a young age that those pre-packaged spices in the little glass jars are overpriced and stale.  Growing up, our coffee grinder was not used for coffee, but for grinding spices such as coriander, cumin, black pepper, dried chili peppers, and other non-coffee items.  I was taught that whenever possible, spices should be bought whole and ground according to the chef’s preference.  However, I understand that for an unfortunate portion of the population, spices do not extend further than salt and pepper, or maybe some dried mélange of “Italian” spices tucked in the back of the kitchen cupboard.

To my delight, in every full sized grocery store that I have been to in the Kingdom, there is a separate dry good section that sells bulk spices and nuts.  This section is in addition to the typical, Western spice isle that has your pre-packaged spices with the McSpice label in the glass jar.  The grocer’s spice section is similar to your deli section – a separate counter person is in charge of scooping and weighing out customers requests.  Several varieties of cardamom, saffron, peppercorns, za’atar, other spices, dals, nuts, and other dried goods.  Unfortunately, my Arabic is not good enough to identify the items that I am unfamiliar with.  The amount of products available is overwhelming and I often get lost just staring at the options.  I cannot adequately describe the joy I have when standing in front of all of these bins.  I guess it’s like being a girl in a spice shop…  What to do with blackened, dried lemons?  Do I need a half-kilo of sumac?  The nut offerings are much more than salted or unsalted, shelled or whole – there are spicy almonds, lemon pistachios, raw pine nuts, sesame crusted  whatnot, Brazil nuts, and all manner of sweet, savory, salty and in-between.  As with our local dry goods shop, there is a grinder for coffee and cardamom.  But why get anything ground when I would much rather grind them myself, allowing the perfume to fill our home.  Besides Arabic coffee and cardamom pods, we have purchased lemon almonds, popcorn, za’atar, turmeric, chili powder, black peppercorns, black mustard seeds, cumin seeds,  coriander seeds, black chickpeas, couscous, lentils, tamarind paste and shredded coconut.  I have my eye out for the pistachios of different flavors, saffron, and red za’atar, which I believe has more sumac than the green variety.  As in the west, grocery stores also have separate deli sections that include meats, cheeses, and pickled goods.  It will take several months to try all the varieties that tempt me from behind the glass.  To date, we have had purchased varieties of labneh (a thick yogurt, almost like a paste), olives from Turkey, Jordan, and beyond, and “feta” cheese that is not quite as crumbly as I have had in the USA, but just as salty and strong with flavor.  Oh, and all items may be sampled before purchase!

We didn’t pack many kitchen items with us.  In the spice department, we only brought our electric coffee grinder and quickly determined that a suitable mortar and pestle was essential for cooking.  I have been partial to Japanese varieties, and had a small porcelain one back in NYC.  While waiting for the perfect tool to present itself, we settled for grinding our spices by hitting them with the side of a cleaver between pieces of paper towel. Although not the ideal or safest method of spice grinding, the flavor is still superior to pre-ground spices lurking in the back of the cupboard.  Our new mortar and pestle was purchased in the food section of a pretty famous outdoor market here in Riyadh (unfortunately, I did not visit this market as I was abaya shopping).  It is made of cast aluminum, and is heavy with high sides, keeping those pesky seeds inside when smashing them.  I’ve never used a metal mortar and pestle before, but I must say that I am quite happy with the switch.

bread / khubz

Whenever I really like something, I try to learn how to make it myself so I can enjoy it whenever I fancy.  One treat that I became quickly addicted to is zaatar bread.  Popular in the Arabian Peninsula and Middle East, zaatar (also written as za'tar) is a mixture of various dried herbs, usually ground thyme, oregano, marjoram, sumac, toasted sesame seeds, and salt.  Each region, country, and specific household will prefer their own blend.

My first try of za'tar bread was at a lovely Middle Eastern restaurant in NYC called Moustache (see link under "Recently Dined At").  While not exclusively vegetarian, there are enough options to fill even the hungriest vegetarian diner.  In addition to za'tar, they have humus, felafel, foul, and other dishes that either have been or will probably be featured here on this blog.

Spice markets are easy to come by in NYC, and there is a well stocked one in Hell's Kitchen that sold za'tar in bulk (I will update this post with the exact location and name of this place once I remember it).  To make your own za'tar bread the easy way, simply by the spices from a reputable shop, get some fresh pita, and good extra virgin olive oil.  As your oven pre-heats, pour a generous amount of olive oil on your pita, smear it around with your fingers (or use a pastry brush if you don't want soft hands0, and then liberally sprinkle the spices on top.  Cook in the oven until the bread is hot and the olive oil is bubbling.

Being in the Arabian Peninsula, I was not surprised to see za'taron the menus at at the market.  I found two different varieties at Tamimi's, purchasing the greener one, saving the reddish version for another day.  I made my own za'tar bread here in my dorm-like kitchen, with ok results.  The bread here is called khubz and is thinner than your traditional pita, but is just as tasty.  I need to adjust the time due to the thickness of the bread, along with the fact that I'm using and electric oven.

Another khubz-based item that I am in love with is labneh with honey.  Trusty Mama Noura was my introduction to this item on their "pastry" section.  Labneh is a very thick yogurt, even thicker than that Greek yogurt all the kids are eating now.  This paste is oven eaten with bread and served weet or savory - sweet with honey and savory with za'tar.  At Mama Noura, they smear the labneh on their freshly baked khubz, drizzle honey on top, and cook it in the oven and roll it up.  This is one of the best things I have ever eaten - warm, comforting, sweet, filling, and very simple.  Simple enough to even make in a dorm-like kitchen?

At my last grocery outing, I got the courage to belly up to the deli counter.  Overwhelmed with the choices of labneh, olives, and various pickled items, I asked for the Turkish variety for no reason other than it was one of the lower priced plain varieties.  I bought my freshly baked bread from the bakery section and honey from the condiment isle.  The honey took a bit of time, as I wanted to purchase local honey and many of the jars were imported from the USA, Australia, and countries in Europe.  I finally found a jar that was produced in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Like my za'tar bread making experience, I didn't have the electric oven temperature mastered.  However, it was not a bad first attempt.