A Data Glimpse on the Ingredients of Khartoum’s Cuisine in Ramadan
The Sudanese people in Khartoum have a variety of dishes and drinks for Ramadan. So I’ve asked @taste.of.sudan at Instagram about some of their dishes and drinks to help me out in this article with a list on the most popular dishes and drinks. They usually have three meals in Ramadan: sahoor, iftar, and dinner. Unlike other perspectives on the Sudanese cuisine around the web, I’ll let explore the ingredients of these dishes and drinks. There are a number of online presences of Sudanese cuisine that is very useful for your Ramadan Meals in Sudan
The dishes and drinks served during Ramadan are from different origins some are local from Sudan itself, internationally recognized, and recognized by neighboring middle eastern countries.
The Sudanese dishes and drinks in Ramadan include: aseeda, mulah, meat fattah, Hilumur juice, Hibiscus juice, Gongolez juice, aswad & yogurt salad, balila, meat dam’aa, boosh, calf liver, Dakwa salad, ful medames, Jirjeer salad, Qorrasa, Mutton ribs and macarons, Qoddim juice, Magannan tea, Shayya, Roqaq, cheese salad, red lentil fattah, chicken dam’aa, and yogurt and ajur salad.
Middle eastern dishes served in Khartoum Cuisine for Ramadan include: falafel, quaker soup, lentil soup, black coffee, Balila, cheese sambosa, and meat sambosa.
International dishes and drinks favored by Sudanese in Ramadan include: orange juice, mango juice, green salad, oven chicken, red tea, vegetable soup, tomato soup, and whole wheat soup.
“Eat on your preference, but wear what people prefer.”
Famous Sudanese proverb
Meals
In sahoor before dawn comes and the fasting begins people sit for the first meal, which consists of roqaq, dates, and water to help them during their fasting. Roqaq is more like of a corn flakes but more thinner pieces of dried dough served with warm milk, and sugar. When sun sets the people break their fast and serve a main meal more like a late lunch then they pray Maghrib prayers. After that they sit and drink red tea, milk tea, and black coffee. Then they pray Isha and Taraweeh prayers. After that there’s an optional meal which is dinner and it has the same dishes and drinks as in the Iftar. In rare communities, people are used to serve the same dishes in iftar for also Sahoor, but this is a very tiring meal if it became heavy as iftar.
Ingredients
Preferences
Preference of the Sudanese people in Khartoum during Ramadan is more of salty and hot dishes more than they prefer cold and sweet dishes and even drinks. The categories of hot and salty dishes are also more diverse and much more than the other kinds of dishes. Of course, this will get you thirsty during the daylight fasting.
Top ten ingredients used during Ramadan
The top ingredients used during Ramadan by Sudanese people in Khartoum are: salt, onion, black pepper, tomato, water, garlic, flour, tomato sauce, sugar, and vegetable oil. Of course, this indicates that the cuisine is very strong and useful diet due to the inclusion of onion and garlic which strengthen the immunity system inside the human body. But it’s also harmful due to heart diseases caused by the salt and carbohydrates in the flour. Diabetes is also an issue due to huge amounts of sugar consumed during Ramadan.
Category of what’s being served
The categories of what’s being served during Ramadan are mainly main dishes, soups, salads, juices, hot beverages, desserts. Soups and juices never abandon the Sudanese meals during Ramadan because it compensates the amount of liquids lost during the day and because it is also essential to introduce some light-weight things to the stomach. This is far healthier for the body rather than eating huge amounts of food at once.
Online presence of Sudanese Cuisine
Sudanese Foodies is a mobile application that enables you to order homemade Sudanese dishes and drinks. The chefs are listed in the app, so in case you liked one of them, you can order from them again and again!
YouTube
To know more about the Sudanese Cuisine, its stories, and fun facts you can check on Nahda Arbab’s Dowaga YouTube Channel. Luckily the videos have English Subtitles. Moreover, there is Lqawis. Lqawis is a YouTube channel that is specialized in reviewing and exhibiting multiple Sudanese foods from the Sudanese restaurants and street food shops. Unfortunately, Lqawis has no English translations, so you have to learn Arabic to understand it.
Recipes websites
You can visit a couple of websites and search for Sudanese dishes and drinks to make them by your own self at home. These websites include Mawdoo, supermama, Tareeka, and international cuisine.
Conclusion
To conclude, Sudanese cuisine in Ramadan is full of different categories, types, tastes, ingredients, and temperatures. Three meals are served during Ramadan by sunset, evening, and before dawn with a few minutes. The data visuals did reveal what we didn’t see clearly in the Sudanese cuisine during Ramadan. There are very nice websites, social media accounts, and mobile applications that give you the opportunity to try Sudanese cuisine during Ramadan and even after Ramadan.
