The myriad tastes and cultural influences of iftar

From wobbly china grass halwa to smoked samosas to sabudani ki kheer — Muslim communities around the country bring to the iftar table not just exciting meals but also diverse cultural influences

It is not vada, but vaadaa — a crunchy evening snack — served for iftar at Tamil-speaking Ravuthar Muslim homes in coastal Tamil Nadu. “This deep-fried snack migrated from Sri Lanka through the Ravuthar Muslim men who travelled there for business centuries ago, bringing back food stories that would eventually find their way into Ravuthar kitchens,” says Hazeena Seyad, who has documented hundreds of such recipes in her book Ravuthar Recipes- with a pinch of love (Hitech Universal Printers and Publishers). Shaped like a spacecraft, this deep-fried vaadaa is crunchy outside and chewy inside.E very coastal village has its own variant, she explains.Sri Lankan watalappam: a cardamom-spiced coconut custard sweetened with jaggery, and thakkadi: rice flour dumplings in mutton curry are other celebrated iftar dishes in Tamil Muslim homes. “The recipe of thakkadi is over two centuries old. The mutton curry is a hearty dish made with aromatic spices, coconut milk and poppy seeds to which the dumplings poached in mutton broth are added,” adds Haseena.