Iftar

"In Afghanistan, iftar usually includes the traditional dates, shorwa (soup), kebabs, du piyaza (meat stewed in an onion-based sauce), manto (seasoned, minced meat wrapped in pasta), kabuli palaw (rice with lentils, raisins, carrots, and lamb), shorm beray, bolani (fried or baked flat bread with a vegetable filling), and rice, as well as other dishes.

Some of the common iftar items from Bangladeshi cuisine include piyaju (made of lentil paste, chopped onions and green chillies, like falafel), beguni (made of thin slices of eggplant dipped in a thin batter of gram flour), jilapi, muri, haleem, dates, samosas, dal puri (a type of lentil-based savoury pastry), chola (cooked Bengal gram ), kebab, mughlai porota (stuffed porota with minced meat, eggs and spices), variety of pitha, aloo chop, singara, ghugni, amerti, bundia, nimki, Pakora, khaja, batasa, khabar tula, Bengali sweets, Roasted chickpeas and different types of fruits such as watermelon, apple, banana, papaya, pear, mango and pineapple.

Bengalis break their fast with all their friends and family and eat together in a banquet with their array of food; however, savoury items are eaten before the sweet.

After Iftar people pray maghrib and later Isha then many head straight for Taraweeh prayers where 20 rakats are performed to finish one Juz' of the Quran.

The sungkai is generally a welcomed time of the day, so Bruneians occasionally break their fast at restaurants along with their extended family.

In other southern states (Tamil Nadu and Kerala), Muslims break their fast with nonbu kanji,[8] a rich, filling rice dish of porridge consistency, cooked for hours with meat and vegetables.

Muslims in the area of Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh serve the aforementioned rice porridge, here called Ganji, with boondhi in it during Iftar.

[10] Most common iftar items are: Chai (tea) with zulbia and bamiyeh and other sweets, dates, halva, Fereni, Ash Reshteh, Halim, Shami Lapeh, Noon (bread usually lavash or barbari) and paneer with greens and fresh herbs.

[10] One of the biggest iftar meals in the world takes place in Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad city every year, with some 12 thousand people attending every night.

Various foodstuffs from the Malaysian cuisine tend to be readily available from Bazaar Ramadhans, which are street food markets that are open during Ramadan; local favourites include bandung drink, sugarcane juice, soybean milk mixed with grass jelly, nasi lemak, laksa, ayam percik, chicken rice, satay and popiah among others.

Many high-end restaurants and hotels also provide special iftar and dinner packages for those who want to break the fast outside with families and friends.

Furthermore, most mosques also provide free bubur lambok (a special type of rice congee) after Asar prayers.

Most Muslims will usually have a special supper after performing their tarawih prayers called moreh (pronounced Malay pronunciation: [moˈreh]).

The light meal, taking place in mosque and prayer hall grounds, consists of local traditional snacks and hot tea.

In shopping malls and public venues in Malaysia, the time of iftar is indicated by radios announcing the call to Maghrib prayers.

There are many exclusive restaurants and hotels providing special iftar and dinner packages for those who want to break the fast outside with the families and friends.

At local homes, one will find various cold fruit juices (water melon, mango, passion fruit, pineapple) sweet (boakiba, pudding) and salty shorteats called hedhika (boakiba, bajiya, gulha, masroshi, cutlets), the latter made with mainly fish, curries, roshi and salads made with local greens, chilli, onion and lemon.

Other items such as chicken rolls, spring rolls, Shami Kebabs, fruit salads, papad (sheets of batter that are then sun-dried, deep-fried or roasted until they have the texture of potato chips or crisps), chana chaat (chickpea salad), and dahi balay (or "dahi baray"—fried lentil dumplings served with yoghurt) are also very common.

Various television channels also stop their normal telecast and broadcast special Ramadan transmissions, especially at the time of Sehar and Iftar.

The whole month of Ramadan is marked in Pakistan as a festive season when people make donations to the poor and give charity.

In Russia, Ramadan is observed mostly in Muslim-majority states such as Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia, Adygea, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, Tatarstan and Bashkortostan.

In Dagestan, Muslims gather in Makhachkala Central Juma Mosque to break their fast and pray taraweeh prayers.

When eating Iftar at home, a special type of pastry called "Burak" (برك in Arabic) is fried and enjoyed (there are cheese and meat varieties).

Tamarind Juice is traditionally drunk in the Iftar meal, and fattoush is a popular salad option along with tabbouleh.

In Turkey and Northern Cyprus, the month of Ramadan is celebrated with great joy, and iftar dinners play a big part in this.

It consists of dates, olives, cheese, pastırma, sujuk, Ramazan pidesi (a special bread only baked during Ramadan), and various pastries called börek.

As soon as the sun sets, a traditional "Ramadan Cannon" is fired from the highest hill in every city as a signal to start eating the iftar.

Between each set of 4 rekahs, a hymn composed by the Turkish musician Buhurizade Itri is sung by all people attending the prayer.