Anticipating `Eid al-Fitr celebrations next Friday/Saturday, US Muslims are preparing to welcome the religious holiday with special food treats in halal burger joints and kebab palaces.
“The parents will stay home and eat biryani,” Zayn Hassan, a Pakistani-American student who was buying macarons to break the daily fast at Shawarmania in Astoria, Queens, told New York Times on Wednesday, July 15, Onislam.net reported.
Millions of Muslims worldwide are preparing to bid farewell to the blessed fasting month of Ramadhan, getting ready to welcome another spiritual event: `Eid Al-Fitr.
After special prayers to mark the day, festivities and merriment start with visits to the homes of friends and relatives.
During `Eid days, families and friends exchange visits to express well wishes and children, wearing new clothes bought especially for `Eid, enjoy going out in parks and open fields.
This year, `Eid Al-Fitr is expected on Friday, July 17, if the Shawwal moon was sighted on Thursday.
“On Eid, you are encouraged to eat all the things that are too rich, too sweet, too creamy for a normal day,” Sumayya Usmani, who writes the food blog My Tamarind Kitchen, moved from Pakistan to Britain in 2007, said.
In Karachi, that meant fluffy pineapple layer cake; plump fried-meat-filled samosas; and seviyan (toasted thin wheat noodles, also called semiyan, sev or semiya) topped with khoya, a creamy mass of cooked and caramelized milk.
“The whole day is dedicated to rejoicing in having food on the table,” she said.
Preparations for special treats in `Eid day differed from country to another.
In the Middle East, `Eid is often welcomed with stuffed pastries like kahk and mahmoul; in Southeast Asia, with ketupat, rice steamed in bundles of woven palm fronds; in South Asia, with rich meat dishes and supersweet desserts.
“It takes a long time to learn to avoid being distracted by hunger,” Usmani said about Ramadhan fasting.
SS
source : irib.ir
