8 different Iftars, 1 Bangladesh

Sumaiya Tasnim

Ramadan, for Muslims around the world, is considered to be a month of forgiveness, love, and patience. As Ramadan is getting closer by the day, there seems to be an increasing anticipation of what this year’s Iftar feastings will bring forth. In Bangladesh, after a day of fasting, we do tend to go a tad bit overboard with all that food, with eight different divisions exhibiting their own unique styles of preparing Iftar.

Barisal: The diary of Sujabad

Zerin Ahmed, a sophomore in a private university, has always spent the last weeks of Ramadan at her grandparents’, an ongoing tradition that requires the entire family to come together and bond. For Iftar, following the usual khejurs, piyaju, and daal puri, they tend to eat a bowl or two of some chira and curd mixed together; it is thought to help the body with proper digestion.

Hotel Grand Park arranges Iftar with a variety of dishes, which have gained a lot of popularity over the years. Just remember to stop yourself from binging too much.

From Chittagong, with Love

Best known for their seafood delicacies, Chittagong has its own style of making Iftar. Shammi Kebab, Beef Shaslik, Chana Bhuna, Piaju, Jilapi, and the likes, are considered to be the crowd favourite, but prawn fries dipped in a spicy batter, seems to always win the race.

Chittagong Gooners, Handi, Peninsula Hotel, and several other places, organize their Iftars with delicious dishes.

Dhaka: The Heart of Bangladesh

Dhaka, the capital of our country, seems to be full of innovative ideas in preparation for Ramadan. During that period of time, people tend to look out for the different offers and discounts, which a lot of restaurants tend to give out. Places like Old Dhaka and Chawkbazar seem to start a food rage, as early as three in the afternoon during Ramadan. Many kinds of khejurs, along with numerous recipes of Haleem, are willing to create a party for your taste buds. If invited to a family gathering, jilapis, different flavours of yogurt, or even fruit juices could pose to be the perfect gift.

Delicious Khulna

Street food seems to create all the hype in Khulna, starting from the vendors who sell fried dishes like piyaju, to the ones who sell juices and fruits.

Shawarma House, Café Mariot, CityLight Café and Restaurant, are also very popular spots for Iftar feasts.

Mymensingh and You

Mymensingh, popular for the hill tracts and tourists’ spots, brings about a different side when it comes to Iftar items. Along with the other kebabs, the Gurda kebab and jaali kebab, are two of the most popular Iftar dishes.

Mangolicious Rajshahi

Rajshahi is famous for the varieties of mangos available in the region, and using them, people make mango yogurt, mango smoothies, aam makha, and the list goes on, all of which are served during Iftar time.

Rangpur and Potatoes

Potatoes always steal the show in Rangpur, when it comes to Iftar. It could be incorporated into the menu as simple fries, or as a sidekick to other dishes, but as far as potatoes are concerned, let’s just say Robin sometimes outshines Batman.

Sylhet: Not Just About Tea

Sylhet’s Iftar delicacies are almost as refined as their tea. Modina Bazaar, Ambar Khana, and other such places, provide saucy chicken lollipops, jhal aloor chop, and boot bhajha as delicious Iftar items, and of course, tea is offered as a part of post-Iftar adda!

If you happen to be a foodie who also likes to travel, then “Tiger Tours Limited” is something that you could consider; they are a small group of people from all across the world, committed to the development of sustainable tourism in Bangladesh, in order to strengthen homegrown programs for social and economic development of this young country.

On that note, here’s hoping this Ramadan will be an amazing one! Let us love and learn to empathise!