Iftar is the meal that breaks the fast at sunset each day of Ramadan, and around the world it tends to open the same way: with a date and a sip of water. What follows is wonderfully local. In Morocco it is a bowl of harira, in Türkiye a round of pide, in Kuala Lumpur a pack of bubur lambuk from the mosque, in Indonesia a sweet bowl of kolak, in Hyderabad a plate of haleem. The tradition is significant enough that UNESCO inscribed iftar and its socio-cultural traditions on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2023, on a joint nomination from Azerbaijan, Iran, Türkiye and Uzbekistan.
What is iftar?
UNESCO describes iftar as the meal observed by Muslims at sunset in Ramadan, the ninth month of the lunar calendar, marking the daily end of a fast that runs from dawn to sunset. Its listing makes clear that the meal is only part of it: the evening brings prayer, music, storytelling, games, and the preparing and serving of traditional dishes. For communities it often takes the form of gatherings that strengthen family ties and promote charity, and UNESCO notes that the rituals of iftar are also practised by people who are not fasting themselves.
One detail from the listing will ring true in many family kitchens: children and young people are often trusted with preparing parts of the traditional meal. UNESCO notes that the knowledge is passed on within families, by instruction, watching and joining in, which is exactly how recipes travel from one generation to the next.
Why do Muslims break the fast with dates?
The date-first habit goes back to the practice of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, as recorded in the hadith collections. This is how Sunan Abi Dawud 2356 describes it.
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to break his fast before praying with some fresh dates; but if there were no fresh dates, he had a few dry dates, and if there were no dry dates, he took some mouthfuls of water.— Narrated by Anas ibn Malik, Sunan Abi Dawud 2356
You can see the habit at work across the Muslim world. In Morocco, National Geographic notes, the first thing eaten after sundown is dates. In Indonesia, RRI reports that date consumption rises sharply during Ramadan because so many people begin iftar with dates and water.
What do Muslims eat for iftar around the world?
After the dates, every country sets its own table. Here is a tour of some of the best-loved.
Morocco: harira, chebakia and a spoon carved from citrus wood
In Morocco the soup comes next. National Geographic describes harira as a silky tomato soup loaded with legumes, fresh herbs and spices, served every evening as part of iftar. Cooks start it in the afternoon, and its aroma drifts out of homes as it simmers.
Nearly every pot holds tomatoes, pulses, usually some meat, and plenty of parsley, coriander and celery leaves. Beyond that there is no single agreed recipe: in some regions cooks add a handful of rice, in others fine vermicelli. Harira traditionally comes in decorated bowls with chebakia, honeyed flower-shaped biscuits sprinkled with sesame, and is eaten with a deep spoon carved from lemon or orange wood. Around it you will find olives, hard-boiled eggs to dip in cumin, fresh cheese, honey, layered rghayif flatbread and harsha made with cornmeal.
Türkiye: Ramadan pide and the drummer before dawn
Türkiye's Ministry of Culture and Tourism describes a month of shared preparation, with neighbours and relatives cooking for iftar together. A special bread, pide, sits on most iftar tables, and special desserts are made for the evening meal. The ministry also highlights the Ramadan drum: before dawn a drummer beats the drum and recites poems aloud to wake people for sahur, the last meal before the fast begins.
Egypt: lanterns, qatayef and tables open to everyone
Cairo glows in Ramadan. The National traces the fanous, the traditional lantern, back to the Fatimid conquest of Egypt. The most elaborate traditional designs are still made by artisans in Egypt's historic Islamic districts, in brass inlaid with coloured glass.
At the table, Egyptian Streets names qatayef, zalabia and konafa as the best-known Ramadan sweets. There is also khoshaf, dried figs, dates, raisins and apricots soaked in water, and amar el din, a drink made from apricot fruit leather. Generosity is part of the meal too: mosques and local communities set up big dining tables for anyone in need, and for anyone else who wants to join them.
Malaysia and Indonesia: porridge from the mosque, takjil at the roadside
In Kuala Lumpur, Kampung Baru Masjid Jamek has been a Ramadan focal point for about a century, thanks to its bubur lambuk. Malay Mail describes it as a traditional Malaysian porridge with herbs such as parsley and scallions and a little beef and shrimp. In 2022 the mosque's team cooked it in 15 large pots and prepared 4,000 packs a day, handed out from around 5pm.
Across the water in Indonesia, streets turn into pop-up takjil markets as iftar approaches. One of the most popular dishes is kolak: bananas cooked in coconut milk and palm sugar, often with sweet potato or jackfruit. It sits alongside es buah, a drink of shaved ice, syrup, condensed milk and tropical fruit, and gorengan, the fritters that are often the first bites of the evening.
South Asia and the Gulf: haleem, harees and luqaimat
Hyderabad's haleem is so tied to its city that it holds a Geographical Indication tag. The Haleem Makers Association won it in 2010 and has had it renewed until December 2029, according to The News Minute. Finely pounded meat, lentils and wheat cooked with spices make a porridge-like dish that many prefer for breaking the fast. It is served with spicy shorba, caramelised onions, coriander and lemon, and in Ramadan stalls selling it appear all over the city.
In the Gulf, harees takes a similar idea in a gentler direction. Experience Abu Dhabi describes wheat and meat slow-cooked until smooth, finished with a little ghee. You can find it all year, but Ramadan is its season, when restaurants build iftar menus around it and families cook it in enormous pots. For something sweet there are luqaimat: small fried dumplings, crisp outside and soft within, drizzled with date syrup and fried fresh as the iftar crowd gathers.
How to host an iftar of your own
Feeding people who are fasting carries its own reward. In Jami at-Tirmidhi 807, the Prophet is reported as saying that whoever provides food for a fasting person to break the fast receives the same reward as that person, without anything being taken from theirs. That is the spirit behind every mosque porridge queue and every long table set up in the street.
Our advice for an iftar at home is to borrow from all of the above. Put out dates and water first, then a soup, then the main meal, with something sweet to finish. Cook one dish from a country you have never visited. Invite the neighbour who has never been to an iftar. Our recipes are a good place to start the menu, and if you would rather someone else did the cooking, browse our restaurants.
Edited by Jeloni, editor-in-chief. Researched and drafted with AI assistance; every fact in this article was checked against its sources.
