A beginner’s guide to fasting (and feasting) during Ramadan

In mid-February, Muslims worldwide begin Ramadan, the most sacred month of the year. While it is defined by the fast from dawn to dusk, the month is equally centred on food.

Families rise in the quiet hours for suhoor, the pre-dawn meal, and gather again at sunset for iftar to break the fast. These daily rituals culminate in Eid al-Fitr, a festival defined by grand culinary traditions and celebratory feasting.

This is a truly global season. Islam is the world’s second-largest religion, practised by a quarter of the global population across 50 Muslim-majority nations – from Indonesia to Turkey – and within vibrant minority communities in India and the US.

In Australia, the 2021 census recorded the Muslim community growing to 3.2 per cent of the population, making it the nation’s second-largest religious grouping and a vital part of our culinary landscape.

Date night

This year, Ramadan is expected to begin on February 16 and will draw to a close with the sighting of the new moon around March 19 or 20. While the fast is a central pillar of the month, there are compassionate exemptions for the very young, the elderly, those who are ill or travelling, and women who are pregnant, nursing, or menstruating.

Culinary traditions are as diverse as the cultures that observe the month. In Turkey, bakeries produce a signature round, checkered Ramazan pidesi; in Pakistan, many break their fast with haleem, a rich, slow-cooked wheat and lamb porridge. In Sudan, the essential refreshment is helo-murr, a complex, fermented spiced corn drink.

Yet, across almost every table, dates remain the universal centrepiece. Following the Sunnah – the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad – they are the preferred way to break the fast, offering a quick, natural burst of energy to the body after a day of discipline.

“They’re perfect to begin iftar, the evening meal that breaks the fast,” says Gilava Pour, the Iranian-born founder of Exotic Bazaar, a Victorian-based Middle Eastern meal kit company.

“We stuff dates with walnuts and eat them with tea. The vitamins, minerals and sweetness slowly bring up blood sugar, pairing with the good fats of walnuts, which give high protein and nutrition to your brain,” says Pour. “You don’t get a sugar spike.”

Dates can also be an important part of suhoor, the meal before sunrise. “You have a little gathering, try to have a complete high-protein meal,” says Pour.

“My grandma would wake up at 4am and set a table of cheese, bread, nuts, dates, a few leftovers from Iftar, and tea. You wake up and you are immediately feasting. The intimacy and togetherness of the early morning was such a nice feeling.”

A time of reflection

Ramadan is a time of discipline, spiritual renewal and unity. “Fasting is difficult for the first few days, but then your body gets used to it, you feel lighter, you feel proud, you don’t feel tempted,” says Pour. “It’s a time of reflection, health, and helping people who have to go without.”

In Iran, her family would gather at her grandmother’s house for Iftar. During the month of Ramadan, they would gather several times to make enormous quantities of ash reshteh, a hearty Persian stew that includes plentiful herbs, legumes and noodles.

It would be offered to the community, particularly those in need. “Anyone could come to the door with their own containers and we would fill up hundreds of pots,” says Pour.

Decorating the ash reshteh is an important part of the process. “We had a line-up of family, first putting on crispy fried shallots, yoghurt and fragrant mint oil. I mixed oil with dried mint and would drizzle it on top.”

As with Easter in the Christian tradition, Ramadan shifts according to the lunar calendar, so people would sometimes shuffle through snow and sometimes amble in mild spring weather to meet for Iftar.

Shake the house

This year, the final days of Ramadan coincide with Nowruz, the Persian New Year. For many, it creates a rare overlap of two significant cultural periods.

“We prepare for Nowruz for 21 days, doing a deep clean – we call it ‘shaking the house’ – and sprouting sabzi by soaking grains in water,” says Pour. The sabzi –a plate of sprouted wheat, barley, or lentils – is the centrepiece of the haft-seen, the ceremonial table laid with symbolic items during the 13-day celebration.

“‘How is your sabzi? What’s the state of your sabzi?’ These are the key topics of conversation in the weeks leading to Nowruz,” says Pour. Ash reshteh (noodle soup) is also a traditional food for the holiday, and Pour notes that it perfectly suits the Australian autumn.

“It’s a great dish for the changing season because the vegetables and protein are both cleansing and nourishing,” she says. “It’s a way to reflect on the year as we head into the cooler months.”

In 2026, Nowruz begins on March 20, landing just as Ramadan concludes with the sighting of the new moon. At that point, the celebratory feasting of Eid al-Fitr begins, creating a double celebration.

“It’s religion and also fun, seeing who spots the moon first,” says Pour. “You look forward to Eid like Christmas. It’s a time for community and donations –we take care packages to the local mosque and think about those who go without.”