Assalamo alykum & welcome to Chapter 14 of Ramadan An Event to share. Today is the last friday of Ramadan and Juma tul Wida (a bid adieu to ramadan). The feeling at this moment is kind of mixed where on one end we are bidding farewell and on the other end it is the happiness of welcoming Eid.

 In this journey of Ramadan An Event to share, I have come across so many beautiful bloggers and foodies. It makes me happy knowing them and see their enthusiasm to share the Ramadan festivities of their country. I came across such the blog  Julia Al Arab  aka Food Lover an Egyptian Blog. Curiosity drove me to check more about her. Nickname by her husband Julia Al Arab meaning  Julia of Arab (referring to Chef Julia Child) her blog is a treasure of Egyptian recipes. She recently gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and still she gave me such a beautiful post. Kariman (our Julia Of Arab) is sharing Egyptian Ramadan with the recipe of Ful with Tahini.

Hello everyone! I’m Kariman from Food Lover Kitchen مطبخ جوليا العرب, I would like to thank Huma for inviting me to join this event, it’s my pleasure to be a part of it, to represent my country Egypt, and share with you all how beautiful this month is in Egypt. What distinguishes Egypt from other countries in this month is, not only what you see, but also what you hear! a week (or two) before Ramadan you can see the neighbors helping each other placing what we call “Zeinet Ramadan” (which means lanterns and unique decorations of Ramadan) in the streets between the buildings, also you can see balconies with lights and lanterns everywhere! Second thing is “Madfaa Al Iftar” or Ramadan cannon, which you can hear two times a day, once when it’s time for people to stop eating, in the early dawn with the famous voice of a man calling for it saying “Madfaa Al Imsak, Edrab! مدفع الإمساك، إضرب”, and the second time is when it’s time for Iftar or time to eat! And the voice before it saying “Madfaa Al Iftar, Edrab! مدفع الإفطار، إضرب”; nowadays you can hear those two sounds recorded only on TV or radio, but some cities are still firing real cannons, and a real man announces the times with a loud voice, and believe me it’s really fun to hear live! After people finish eating Iftar, they go to the mosques to pray Eshaa, ,followed by Tarawih prayers, and here is the third beautiful thing you can find here, which is the sound of Qur’an and prayers everywhere at night! What a relaxing voice to hear, and what a lovely spirit in this holy month!Now Let’s talk about food, a month before Ramadan, you can find “Yamish” everywhere in shops and markets, Yamish is different kinds of nuts and dried fruits like dates, apricots, figs, raisins, and prunes. Also we have many recipes that are so popular in Ramadan, but let me take you to the most popular ones among peoples here!

*First, the drinks, one of the drinks that we only have in Ramadan is called “Qamar El Deen” which is made out of apricot leather that’s made especially for this month, some other famous cold refreshing drinks are Hibiscus, Tamarind, Sweetened Coconut milk “Soubya”,  and yet there are still so many other refreshing ones that are available around the year!

*Second, desserts, the most popular one of course the Famous Egyptian bread pudding “Um Ali” and all kinds of oriental desserts like Kunafa, Baklava, and Basbousa, and there are some new recipes are made as a twist out of the traditional ones, like Kunafa with cream and mango, or with Nutella or strawberries, and so many other creations!

*Third, the food, and the list here is so long, some dishes for Iftar like Bechamel pasta, Mahshy (rice stuffed vegetables or leaves like grape or cabbage leaves), and for Sohour like Fava beans “Ful” and eggs,…etc

We start Eating with dates and milk, or soaked dates and dried fruits which is called “Khushaf”, and sometimes with some drinks and juices, then after a while we eat soup and main meal, and then on sohour the king of the dishes is Ful, and in this heat feta cheese with watermelons are kings two!

After Ramadan comes Eid Al Fitr, which I love to start early so we can all go to Eid prayer early with kids wearing new clothes and having fun with the family and friends who are giving treats and Eideya “Money, and only new papers for Eid, no used ones ;)”

I’m going to share with you, my recipe for “Ful with Tahini” which is Dried fava beans, that’s cooked  (Ful Mudamess) and then spiced the way each family is used to!

FUL WITH TAHINI

Ingredients

• 2 cup cooked fava beans (or canned)
• 3 tbsp tahini
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil (or olive oil)
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste

Directions:

1- In a pan over medium heat place the beans and let it boil, then turn off the heat.

2- add all the other ingredients except oil, and mix well together.

3- Transfer to a serving plate and drizzle with oil, serve hot, and.. Bon Appétit 🙂

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