Eid al-Fitr

My finished mehndi design.

Tonight is the Islamic Festival of the Breaking of the Fast, which ends Ramadan. In Arabic, eid means festivity and fitr means to break a fast. 

Muslims celebrate for three days; they decorate their homes with lights, dress in their finest clothes, and visit with friends and family. It’s a day of peace, unity, and forgiveness. A common greeting is “Eid Mubarak” (Blessed Eid).

Agenda this week:
1. Mehndi Designs
2. Zakaat zl-fitr (Charity of fast breaking)
3. Prayers
4. Make Ma'amoul (Stuffed Date Cookies)

1. Mehndi Designs:

During the Eid celebration some people decorate their hands with patterns called mehndi. They might also decorate their feet or even their foreheads!

The dye for mehndi is made from the leaves of the henna plant, mixed with water and eucalyptus oil. You can buy henna kits all over the place now, and find traditional designs online, or probably buy a design book where you find the henna.

Materials: Henna, lemon juice, sugar, cotton balls, design

The henna I like comes in a foil cone, ready to pipe on, like frosting.

1. First plan your design. You can draw it out on paper if you want. Also, mix up about 1/3 c. cup of lemon juice mixed with 2 Tbsp. sugar.

2. Apply the henna.

3. Let the henna dry for a couple minutes, until it is firm to the touch, then dab it with the lemon juice and sugar syrup. This syrup helps it to set, and keeps it from flaking off. The longer you leave the henna paste on, the darker the design will be. 

4. When you can't stand it any longer, flake off the dried henna, and wash your skin gently. The design will last a week or more.

2. Zakaat zl-fitr (Charity of fast breaking):

Although generosity and good deeds are always important in Islam, they have special meaning now. The day before the `Eid, Muslims share their blessings by paying zakaat al-fitr, or "charity of fast breaking"- a gift of money or food for the poor. 

Zakaat is one of the five pillars of Islam. The purpose of zakaat is to establish a semblance of equality in our crazy chaotic world. 

This week I will choose a charity or food bank to donate to, or find other ways to be generous; the prophet Muhammad said, “Even meeting your brother with a cheerful face is charity.”

3. Prayers:

The Arabic phrase lā ilāha illā allāh is another one of the pillars of the Muslim faith, and is a part of the call to prayer five times a day throughout the Muslim world. It means There is only one God, which I do believe. Broken down, this is the literal meaning:

lā = no, not, none, neither

ilāha = a god, deity, object of worship

illā = but, except

allāh = allāh (God)

I like to practice using other people's names for God, because it helps me feel less separate, less foreign. Allāh is the same loving spirit I know, by any name.

Chant: lā ilāha illā allāh

For a YouTube video of this chant check SAMI YUSUF LA ILAHA ILLALLAH

4. Make Ma'amoul (Stuffed Date Cookies): 

After prayers, everyone visits the homes of relatives and friends for an enormous midday banquet, featuring a roasted whole lamb and many delicious cookies and sweets. My favorite cookies are Ma’amoul, which means “stuffed” in Arabic. These cookies can be stuffed with a number of different fillings, but date is traditional for the Eid.

Ma'amoul are usually made with a decorative wooden mold (I used one I got in Chinatown) but you can use your hands to shape the cookies, and a fork to press a design in the sides.

Allow a few hours to make these as you need to let the dough rest between each step.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 c. ghee or butter
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 2-1/2 c. flour
• 1/4-c. sugar
• 1/2-tsp. yeast
• 1/2-Tbsp. anise seeds
• 1/8 c. rosewater
• powdered sugar (optional)

Filling:

• 1 c. pitted dates (about 6 oz.) 
• 1 tablespoon ghee or oil 
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 
• 1/4 tsp. cardamom

Yield: 10 cookies-

1- For the dough, combine ghee (or butter) and oil in a small saucepan; heat over medium until the butter is just melted, about 2 minutes; cool slightly.

2- Put flour in a large bowl and rub the ghee-oil mixture into the flour with your fingers (don’t knead or your cookies will be hard.) Cover and put in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

3- Start the filling: This recipe makes more filling than you need, so reduce it if you want. Place pitted dates in a small saucepan. Pour 2/3-c. boiling water over the dates and stir. Cover pan and rest 1 hour.

4- Combine sugar and 1/2 c. water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a full, rolling boil; boil 1 minute and then turn off the heat. Cool to lukewarm.


5- Take the flour mixture out of the refrigerator and work in the yeast and the anise seed with your fingers. Gradually incorporate the lukewarm sugar syrup and the rosewater a little at a time, and mix with a fork just until it comes together into a soft, shaggy dough. Allow the dough to rest again for 1 hour.

6- Bring the dates to a simmer over medium heat and cook 10 minutes or until they are very soft, stirring occasionally. Add the ghee or oil, and spices, and puree in a blender until smooth. Set aside.

7- Preheat oven to 350°F; line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.


8- Divide the dough into 10 equal balls. 





Tear off about one-fifth from a ball of dough to save for the cover piece.


Pat the ball into a thick pancake with your hands and press it gently into the mold (or just form a bowl in your hands). 

Add a spoonful of date filling.


Flatten the reserved piece and use it to cover the date mixture; press the two pieces together around the edges. 

To remove the cookie from the mold, tap the rim on table. Repeat for remaining cookies.

(If you are forming cookies with no mold, use a fork to press a design along the sides.)

9- Arrange the cookies on pans 1 inch apart. Bake until light golden brown on the bottom, about 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the trays once.

10- Cool completely, and then dust with the powdered sugar if you want.