Both festivals of Eid celebrated in the Muslim world include cuisines specific to countries and localities.
Eid-ul-Fitr is also known as "Sweet Eid" because of the amount and variety of sweet dishes consumed on this occasion celebrating the happy end of Ramadan (which brings the mercy of Allah). Bangladesh, Brunei, Pakistan, Iran, Indonesia, India, Malaysia and the Arab world have traditional dishes to celebrate Eid. The breakfast of Eid-ul-Fitr are sweet dishes, including Boeber, a dish made by cooking vermicelli with dates. [1] The vermicelli and dates, cooked separately in milk, are also consumed as breakfast before offering Eid prayer. Another variety includes balaleet, popular in the Persian Gulf region.
Depending on the locality, the types and forms of the cuisine vary but are always sweet dishes.
In the Middle East, a wide variety of desserts, bakery items, candy, treats, sweets and cookies are made or bought for consumption during Eid. Those include mammol, ghorabya or qurabiya, kahk, baklava, betitfour, barfi, cakes, cookies, kanafeh, halva and marzipan.
In South Asia, sheer kurma barfi, halwa, kheer, and Shahi tukda are most common dishes during Eid. Chomchoms, barfis, gulabjamuns and different types of pithas as well as roshmalai are popular. These are not only consumed inside houses but also presented to relatives and friends when visiting them on Eid-ul-Fitr. In Sri Lanka, watalapam, kevum, dodol, gulab jamun, jelebi, kokies and sheerkurma are popular treats.
Pulao, korma, kabab and curries are usually prepared for lunch and dinner. Biryani is also common.
Kanafe, baklava, lokum, tulumba, chocolate, chips, candies, cookies, cotton candy and Turkish coffee are served for Eid in Turkey.
Ketupat, lemang, dodol, kuih or kue, rendang, opor ayam, sayur lodeh and other treats are commonly served during Eid in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, and Singapore. [2]
Eid-ul-Adha is the "Salty Eid" because a larger variety of dishes than those served during Eid-ul-Fitr are savoury, including beef or mutton depending on the animal slaughtered in the house. The presents offered to friends, relatives, and the poor of the society include the meat of the slaughtered animal. The fried liver of the animal is used as breakfast, and different dishes include different varieties of kebabs (boneless meat that has been mashed and fried or roasted), nihari, haleem, korma, curries and other varieties. Rice dishes, including different forms of pulao and biryani, are also very popular in South Asia. [3]
Kokoreç, which is made from intestines, may also be eaten in Turkey and other Balkan Muslim communities where it is very popular. [2]
Fatteh [4] is another popular dish during Eid Al-Adha in Egypt; it's made from lamb meat or beef, rice, toasted pita bread, and topped with garlic tomato sauce.
Eid al-Fitr is the earlier of the two official holidays celebrated within Islam. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated by Muslims worldwide because it marks the end of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan. Eid al-Fitr falls on the first day of Shawwal in the Islamic calendar; this does not always fall on the same Gregorian day, as the start of any lunar Hijri month varies based on when the new moon is sighted by local religious authorities. The holiday is known under various other names in different languages and countries around the world. The day is also called "Lesser Eid", or simply Eid.
Pakistani cuisine can be characterized as a blend of regional cooking styles and flavours from across South, Central and Western Asia. Pakistani cuisine is influenced by Persian, Indian, and Arab cuisine. The cuisine of Pakistan also maintains certain Mughal influences within its recipes and cooking techniques. Pakistan's ethnic and cultural diversity, diverse climates, geographical environments, and availability of different produce lead to diverse regional cuisines.
Malay cuisine is the traditional food of the ethnic Malays of Southeast Asia, residing in modern-day Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Southern Thailand and the Philippines as well as Cocos Islands, Christmas Island, Sri Lanka and South Africa.
Pilaf, pilav or pilau is a rice dish, usually sautéed, or in some regions, a wheat dish, whose recipe usually involves cooking in stock or broth, adding spices, and other ingredients such as vegetables or meat, and employing some technique for achieving cooked grains that do not adhere to each other.
Biryani is a mixed rice dish, mainly popular in South Asia. It is made with rice, some type of meat and spices. To cater to vegetarians, in some cases, it is prepared by substituting vegetables or paneer for the meat. Sometimes eggs and/or potatoes are also added.
Iraqi cuisine is a Middle Eastern cuisine that has its origins in the ancient Near East culture of the fertile crescent. Tablets found in ancient ruins in Iraq show recipes prepared in the temples during religious festivals—the first cookbooks in the world. Ancient Mesopotamia was home to a sophisticated and highly advanced civilization, in all fields of knowledge, including the culinary arts.
Sindhi cuisine refers to the distinct native cuisine of the Sindhi people from Sindh, Pakistan. Sindhi cuisine has been influenced by Central Asian, Iranian, Mughal food traditions. It is mostly a non-vegetarian cuisine, with even Sindhi Hindus widely accepting of meat consumption. The daily food in most Sindhi households consists of wheat-based flat-bread (Mani) or rice accompanied by two dishes, one gravy and one dry with curd, papad or pickle. Freshwater fish and a wide variety of vegetables are usually used in Sindhi cuisine. Restaurants specializing in Sindhi cuisine are rare, although it is found at truck stops in rural areas of Sindh province, and in a few restaurants in urban Sindh.
Bhojpuri cuisine is a style of food preparation common among the Bhojpuri people of Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh in India, and also the Terai region of Nepal. Bhojpuri foods are mostly mild and tend to be less hot in terms of spices used. The cuisine consists of both vegetable and meat dishes.
Afghan cuisine is influenced to a certain extent by Persian, Central Asian and Indian cuisines due to Afghanistan's close proximity and cultural ties. The cuisine is halal and mainly based on mutton, beef, poultry and fish with rice and Afghan bread. Accompanying these are common vegetables and dairy products, such as milk, yogurt, and whey, and fresh and dried fruits such as apples, apricots, grapes, bananas, oranges, plums, pomegranates, sweet melons, and raisins. The diet of most Afghans revolves around rice-based dishes, while various forms of naan are consumed with most meals. Tea is generally consumed daily in large quantities, and is a major part of hospitality. The culinary specialties reflect the nation's ethnic and geographic diversity. The national dish of Afghanistan is Kabuli palaw, a rice dish cooked with raisins, carrots, nuts, and lamb or beef.
Hyderabadi cuisine, also known as Deccani cuisine, is the native cooking style of the Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The haute cuisine of Hyderabad began to develop after the foundation of the Bahmani Sultanate, and the Qutb Shahi dynasty centered in the city of Hyderabad promoted the native cuisine along with their own. Hyderabadi cuisine had become a princely legacy of the Nizams of Hyderabad as it began to further develop under their patronage.
Sheer khurma or sheer khorma is a festival vermicelli pudding prepared by Muslims on Eid ul-Fitr and Eid al-Adha in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and parts of Central Asia. It is equivalent to shemai, a Bangladeshi dessert. It is a traditional Muslim festive breakfast, and a dessert for celebrations. This dish is made from various dry fruits, vermicelli, condensed milk, sugar etc. Depending on the region, cardamom, pistachios, almonds, cloves, saffron, raisins, and rose water are also added.
Mughlai cuisine consists of dishes developed or popularised in the early-modern Indo-Persian cultural centres of the Mughal Empire. It represents a combination of cuisine of the Indian subcontinent with the cooking styles and recipes of Central Asian and Islamic cuisine. Mughlai cuisine is strongly influenced by the Turkic cuisine of Central Asia, the region where the early Mughal emperors originally hailed from, and it has in turn strongly influenced the regional cuisines of Northern India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Awadhi cuisine is a cuisine native to the Awadh region in Northern India and Southern Nepal. The cooking patterns of Lucknow are similar to those of Central Asia, the Middle East, and Northern India and western India with the cuisine comprising both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. The Awadh region has been influenced by Mughal cooking techniques, and the cuisine of Lucknow bears similarities to those of Central Asia, Kashmir, Punjab and Hyderabad. The city is also known for its Nawabi foods.
Pashtun cuisine refers to the cuisine of the Pashtun people and is covered under both Afghan and Pakistani cuisines. It is largely based on meat dishes including mutton, beef, chicken, and fish as well as rice and some other vegetables. Accompanying these staples are dairy products, various nuts, local vegetables, and fresh and dried fruits. Peshawar, Islamabad, Kabul, Bannu, Quetta, Kandhar and Mardan are centers of Pashtun cuisine.
Lebaran is the Indonesian popular name for two Islamic official holidays, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha in Indonesia, and is one of the major national holidays in the country. Lebaran holiday officially lasts for two days in the Indonesian calendar, although the government usually declares a few days before and after the Lebaran as a bank holiday. Many individuals or families, especially Muslims take paid time off from their workplace during these days.
Nasi kebuli is an Indonesian variation of pilaf. It consists of rice cooked in goat meat broth, goat milk, and clarified butter. It is popular among the Arab community in Indonesia and Betawi people in Jakarta. Nasi kebuli was influenced by Arab culture and its origin can be traced to Middle eastern cuisine, especially Yemeni Arabian influence, Indian cuisine influence, and Afghan influence.
Betawi cuisine is rich, diverse and eclectic, in part because the Betawi people that create them were composed from numbers of regional immigrants that came from various places in the Indonesian archipelago, as well as Chinese, Indian, Arab, and European traders, visitors and immigrants that were attracted to the port city of Batavia since centuries ago.
Dodol is a sweet toffee-like sugar palm-based confection commonly found in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Originating from the culinary traditions of Indonesia, it is also popular in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the Philippines, Southern India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Burma, where it is called mont kalama. It is made from coconut milk, jaggery, and rice flour, and is sticky, thick, and sweet.
Middle Eastern cuisine or West Asian cuisine includes a number of cuisines from the Middle East. Common ingredients include olives and olive oil, pitas, honey, sesame seeds, dates, sumac, chickpeas, mint, rice and parsley, and popular dishes include kebabs, dolmas, falafel, baklava, yogurt, doner kebab, shawarma and mulukhiyah.
Mirzapur is a village in Ishwarganj Upazila of Mymensingh District in the Division of Mymensingh, Bangladesh.