Sunnat Platters

During Ramadan, the typical South African iftaar table is bedecked with crispy golden samoosas, flaky melt-in-your-mouth pies and delectable savouries of every invention. Ramadaan savouries have become such a entrenched South African tradition that whatsapp was abound with jokes regarding the "stocking of the freezers". While this deliciousness is...well...delicious, it isn't the ideal fast opener if you are trying to eat clean. It can also be counter-productive to the awesome health and detoxifying benefits of fasting in Ramadan.

Over the years, we've gone from eating savouries at iftaar to savoury-alternatives or just skipping savouries altogether. In the past I've experimented with things like stuffed mushrooms and brinjal pizzas as healthier options. This year, however, a suggestion from a friend led us down a different route. While doing a lesson for our kids on sunnat foods, I put together a "sunnat platter" for them to eat, filled with a variety of foods that the Prophet (saw) used to eat. Our children devoured it happily and my friend commented that perhaps a platter like this would be a great starter in Ramadan.  And it is.

I've been putting these "sunnat platters" together almost daily this Ramadan and it's been lovely to break fast with something fresh. I'm sure in summer we'll enjoy these even more as a lot of these items are rather cooling. Here are some of the foods that I have included and rotated in my platters this Ramadan (figs would also be a great addition if you can find them) :

• Dates with double thick or raw cream (this type of cream is what I would imagine to be the closest to the "clotted cream" mentioned in hadith)
• Pomegranate rubies
• Cucumber slices (eaten with dates according to sunnat)
• Melon (eaten with dates according to sunnat)
• Mushrooms (I usually toss them in the oven with some butter, salt and parsley as per this recipe)
• Beetroot (I cube and roast them or grate and marinate in a dressing made of olive oil/balsamic vinegar/honey/lemon juice/salt)
• Grapes
• Olives

This was a platter I took for an iftaar with the extended family - two different types of melon, grapes, cucumbers, pomegranates, olives, dates and clotted cream and roasted mushrooms.

Our usual platter for home

A portable mini-platter for the kids to take with to the masjid