With the start of the blessed month of Ramadan, the "Ramadan expense" is burdening families with middle or low incomes, and fears and burdens prevail to pass this month peacefully, as if it is only the month of food, for which the table must be decorated daily, and the owners are responsible for what they cannot tolerate, and the Corona pandemic and its consequences The economic burden increases the burden of "Ramadan expenses" and overburdens the family's financial budget.
However, is it possible to have the noodles of mushrooms and suhoor with an economic intelligence that satisfies stomachs and pockets?
The Palestinian food blog Hiba Al-Jitan provides Al-Jazeera Net readers with 10 tips for preparing delicious dishes and tables at the lowest cost during Ramadan.
In light of the high cost of meat, it can be cut into small parts to ensure that the flavor is distributed in the food and the pasta is added so that it becomes saturated (Al-Jazeera)
Don't get caught in the bulk trap
The most important advice is the need to assess the family's food needs, and not to fall into the trap of large quantities, as the fasting person expects that he needs a lot of food to silence his hunger, but the fact is that he cannot eat large quantities, and he will often focus on liquids, so the food processor for each individual must calculate half The usual amount before Ramadan;
Because there are appetizers and other items on the table, for example a cup and a half of rice is sufficient for 5 fasting people.
Do not overdo it with varieties
It is not a requirement that the varieties of the breakfast table vary every day, so two days a week are sufficient to put secondary items next to the main dish, such as fried or cold appetizers, and for the rest of the days, we are satisfied with soup or salad besides the main course, because the exaggeration in the secondary dishes is dispersed from the main course and requires more time Effort and money.
The lingi dish (grape leaves with rice) can be prepared without adding meat (the island)
Useful and inexpensive dishes
The table can be complete without red and white meat, and it is not required that it be present every day, especially in light of its high prices. Rather, it is replaced on some days by healthy fried vegetable dishes such as potatoes, eggplant and tomatoes, or whole grain dishes such as mujaddara with rice or bulgur, or the "yilongi" dish, which are leaves Grapes stuffed with rice without meat.
Fatteh is also on the list of delicious dishes provided, consisting of toasted bread and yogurt sauce with chickpeas, eggplant or green beans, and it can be prepared by adding minced meat or chicken according to the desire and ability.
The dough can be used in a variety of filling dishes, with optional filling, such as pizza, spinach, thyme and cheese, or a little meat in a plate and shishbark.
Meat kofta can be eaten to ensure flavor distribution in food and add rice (island)
Other alternatives are practical
To complement the previous advice, meat can be cooked within meals, even if its quantity is small, provided that it cuts small pieces that give adequate flavor, such as "stews" with vegetables on top of spinach, or kofta balls with tahini or tomato paste, and it is recommended to add a side rice dish to feel full. As in the "Sayadiyah" dish, which combines rice and fish, which reduces the amount of fish per person.
In the event that the varieties of some vegetables are expensive, they can not be used as a main dish, for example we replace the stuffed dish (zucchini stuffed with minced meat) or the stuffed vegetable tray.
Zucchini turns from a main dish to a secondary dish, and it ensures that the food is tasted and the benefit is extracted.
Bread is a major component of many varied and economical dishes that can be served at Ramadan tables (Al-Jazeera)
Recycle food
Instead of being discarded or accumulated, foods should be recycled intelligently, to become a new dish, as in the stuffed stuffing fatte, where the stuffed "zucchini or eggplant stuffed, for example" is boiled with its broth, and toasted bread and fried nuts are added to it.
As for the extra meat and chicken, spices are added to it and a shawarma dish, or musakhan rolls, is made from it.
Ozi, a dish made of rice, carrots and peas, can be stuffed into a thin dough and grilled to become "sherr Ozi".
Desserts and juices at a minimal cost
Most of the eastern sweets are similar in their simple cost components, such as milk, flour, starch and semolina, and they can be prepared at home instead of buying them, such as Layali Lebanon, Qatayef, Muhallabia, Halawa Halawa, Umm Ali and Aish Al Saraya.
The same applies to Ramadan juices that are easy to prepare at home. You can buy tamarind and soak it and add sugar and flower water to it, to produce 6 liters for us at a price of one and a half liter ready from the market. Also, a jug of "lemonade" for each family can be prepared from two lemons only and some sugar.
Preparing oriental sweets at home is easy due to the availability of simple, economical ingredients (Al Jazeera)
The secret of smart banquets
It is not desirable to invite to feasts in light of Corona, but if the feast is limited to close people only, it is advisable to focus on the main saturated meals that contain rice such as maqluba, kabsa, ouzi or mansaf, and not to disperse between many secondary varieties and appetizers, taking into account not to fall into Quantities trap, and choose items intelligently, without wasting time or money.
Suhoor fast useful
For a healthy, saturated and economical suhoor, we can add eggs and legumes to the table, and make pulses such as chickpeas at home;
A kilo of dry chickpeas makes at least 10 dishes, and this means that we should not buy it ready.
We can reheat the rest of the breakfast for the suhoor, or prepare a larger quantity of soup (vegetables, freekeh, rice and parsley) and serve it on the suhoor, or be satisfied with fruits and fast sandwiches than is available at home.
Exploiting purchase offers
It is preferable to prepare a weekly menu in Ramadan that takes into account the previous advice, and to buy needs according to it, with the need to take advantage of the periods of purchasing offers and downloads that abound in Ramadan, and take into account not to buy what the menu or home does not need just because it is within an attractive offer.