Random thoughts on Ramadan

So tomorrow is the first day of Ramadan here. It'll be my first time celebrating it in the USA. I am having a difficult time NOT imagining all the yummy Iftar food I used to eat in Dhaka. Yes, I have a newfound interest in cooking. But I don't think I'll have the patience or energy to make all the Iftar delicacies; bora (fried lentil patty), beguni (eggplant tempura but in a gram flour batter), boot(chickpeas), pakora (assorted vegetable in batter and fried), halim (meat in thick lentil sauce), kebab.... aaahhh why am I even doing this to myself thinking of all these yummy food! I actually did bring a packet of Radhuni Halim Mix which I have been saving up to make for Iftar. Marcos actually loves halim, which at first I thought was strange, because he is not a fan of daal (lentil). I guess he loves it because it's a little spicy and got meat in it! I'll definitely try to post a photo if I end up making it.

I know I'll miss my parents a lot. We always had iftar together. Abbu would buy different Iftar items from various restaurants every other day while ammu made the regular items on the menu like bora, boot and beguni. As for me, I did the eating part! I did try to buy good doi bora from time to time (fried dough of lentil soaked in yogurt sauce). I am a fan of doi bora and will try any type. But I am critical, if it's not made right. The other day, I had the chance to eat doi bora at Google Mela which was a festival of cultures and they were serving Indian food. Although every other item tasted good, the doi bora was rather disappointing. The dough was too hard and the sauce did not get absorbed at all; not that the sauce was that great either. It neither had the sweet taste that some doi bora sauce has nor did it have the spicy, tangy flavor that others have. Of course I am not a doi bora connoisseur by any means; I never cooked it! But, I do know what a good tasting doi bora should be like! I had tasted many different types from various restaurants in Dhaka. I love it so much that I also remember tasting it way back in Vienna 1994, in my last school 'Bazaar' from a Pakistani stall with my friend Flory. But sadly, that was also disappointing. One of the best ones were from a chain fast food place called 'Sticky Fingers' in Dhaka. They used to sell it only during the month of Ramadan. Unfortunately, they closed it down a few years back.

Anyways, I'm going to miss celebrating Ramadan in Dhaka. I'm going to miss the Iftar stalls on the streets, which pop up at 2pm and create a traffic chaos! I'm going to miss seeing the smile on a poor old woman's face when she receives Zakat. I'm going to miss the various Iftar get-together with the extended family members and friends and colleagues. I'm going to miss the sound of the sizzle coming from my mother frying bora in the oil. I'm going to miss the smell of chickpeas boiling in spices when my father makes chotpoti. I'm even going to miss haggling with the cook at the restaurant, to give me more meat in my halim! I'm going to miss waiting with my father on the balcony after Sehri, to hear the mosque summoning the Fazr prayer. And I know I'm going to miss seeing my whole family at the Iftar table saying a prayer, before taking the first sip of the day with the beautiful sound of the Maghrib azan in the background.

But I am looking forward to spending a full Ramadan with my wonderful husband for the first time. I want to see how he has been doing it alone for the last few years! And maybe together, we can come up with our own Ramadan traditions.