Breaking fast with favourite traditional treats
|Published
AMINA Barnes’s pumpkin fritters were a crowd favourite when her kids were growing up. Today, her grandchildren love them even more. l TRACEY ADAMS/African News Agency (ANA)
DURING the holy month of Ramadaan many special family recipes, some passed down through generations or at special occasions, are used to break the fast at iftar.
Comedian Yaaseen Barnes’s mom treasures her baked milk tart and pumpkin fritters and says they are a winner.
Amina Barnes said she has been making her beloved milk tart for so long that she cannot recall where she learnt how to make it.
“We would visit friends and family and I made it every single weekend at a time,” she said.
Her pumpkin fritters have been perfected over time. Barnes and her husband, Fuad, have four children: Yaaseen, Shehaam, Rizqua and Quanita. She wanted to make a quick treat that wasn’t too time-consuming.
“The recipe was made up of ingredients I had available at the time. I don’t work from recipes. When you’re a mother, you become innovative, because you don’t have a lot of time.”
Today, her grandchildren love the pumpkin fritters even more than her children did when they were younger.
“To me, these recipes are home. Whether it is a special occasion, or I just have all my kids at home with me, the milk tart and pumpkin fritters are always there,” she said.
She fondly recalls her first memory of Ramadan at her family’s Salt River home. The mosque was on the street corner.
“At the time, they were not allowed to have speakers for the Athan (call to prayer), so when it was time, the light would go on in the mosque,” she said
She added: “Children, Christian and Muslim, would stand in the street waiting for that light to go on and we’d all go in for iftar.”
To her, Ramadaan is a time of peace and community. “When we fast, there is a lot of quiet time for us to recite and read. It’s so rewarding and such a stress-free time,” she said.
“The hustle and bustle of the day to day life is somehow taken away,” she added.
Three of her four children and their families live nearby so they often gather for iftar.
“Many times the dining room table isn’t big enough but that warms my heart,” she said.
Mymoena Bey is a halal foodie and was the co-host of DStv cooking show, Heerlik Halaal. She loves to prepare the family’s favourite recipes for iftar such as potato pudding, creamy chicken and corn soup.
Bey said potato pudding was always served at every family gathering from when she was a little girl. She got the recipe from her sister-in-law, Soraya Bey.
“When we have family gatherings or Thikrs, just like you know there’s going to be biryani there will always be potato pudding,” she said.
“This dish is usually served as a sweet starter before the main dish. I learnt how to make it, because I wanted to be able to make it whenever I craved it,” she said.
The chicken and corn soup dish was a favourite of her late dad, Mustapha Bey. It was made quite often in their home when she was growing up. Bey said she loved the soup from the first time she tasted it.
“I’ve been making it for a very long time. This is a recipe that everyone in the family will request when we have boeka together,” she said.
She added: “The children, especially, don’t like vegetable soup, so the chicken soup is a great hit with them.”
Her first memory of Ramadaan is her late mom Kulsum Bey, making samoosas from scratch.
“I remember her making the dough and I would ask if I could help her but I just wanted to make a mess,” she said.
She recalls how Ramadaan connected the community of Christians and Muslims in Landsdowne.
“We would send food to all of our neighbours regardless of their religion, because everyone respected each other so much,” she said.
She said Ramadaan was special because it was to reflect on her faith.
“There’s a word called ‘Ibadah’ which means servitude. This time of listening to recitations and reciting the Quran heightens your faith.”
Mymoena and her husband, Abdurraoef Taliep, spend weeknights with their two children, Nuha and Amir, at iftar.
“This is a time where we can impart wisdom to our children. With Ramadaan, the sense of family is so evident, because everyone comes together,” she said.
“Ramadaan brings me a sense of peace and calmness. We feel closer to God but also closer to our community,” she added.
“It’s a month of repentance and forgiveness. It sets a precedent for how we should live all year long. We want to instil that in our kids and show them that this is what’s important.”