Getting Ready for Ramadan | Ramadan Kitchen Hacks by morEwish 💞

Updated on March 17th 2021

Ramadan Is around the corner, being the month where the rewards of any act of worship and charity are multiplied. Ramadan is a time Muslims look forward to, as we strive to perform more ibadah and good deeds.
Unfortunately sometime we spend the ENTIRE day planning, cooking, shopping and thinking about food, instead of concentrating on Salah, Quran and other acts of worships.

However, do keep in mind that Ramadan is not a food festival. It is so much more than that, we need to prioritize. This is why just as you may have an ibadah plan for Ramadan, having a planned and organised kitchen is also important, so this year I came up with few ideas on how to stay organized and plan ahead for Ramazan so we can  focus  more on other activities like performing taraweeh, reciting Quran and performing dhikr and i am super excited to share with you guys today!

Video in Urdu:

Video in English:

▶ 1. Pre Ramadan deep cleaning:

Since we do not want to spend lot of time and energy doing any major cleaning up in our kitchen during Ramadan, it makes perfect sense to do this beforehand. Getting rid of any extra stuff or ingredients to make space for the items that you will need for Ramadan.
Deep cleaning your oven, microwave, cabinets, fridge, freezer, windows, kitchen counter, stove top and floor. Designate a home for all your ingredients and kitchen utensils or tools.

▶ 2. Make list and Go Shopping: 

Make a complete list of necessary ingredients which are essentials for your household needs, stuff including, tamaraind, imli, cholay, baisan... Dont forget to add hepling Items like cling wrap, foil, paper towel, plastic bags and food containers. They are useful to have in the kitchen, especially when it comes to meal preparation and storing leftovers or make-ahead meals.

▶ 3.  Ramadan as a Family: 

Ramadan is ideal for families to spend time together in a period that is so spiritually uplifting! Ramadan is a time where the home is a spiritual hub for the family  As parents, siblings and relatives, we should take advantage of this excitement and make Ramadan productive for the children too! Invite them to help prepare iftar with child-friendly recipes, or like here I made a assembly line and target was to make 100 Chicken Puffs.

We have seen mostly its sisters spend time preparing iftar, and for most, they have to focus and energy on all the household tasks including the cooking. Encourage your spouse to get involved in helping prepare iftar by sharing tasks such as chopping and setting up the table. Gently remind your spouse of the sunnah of helping around the house and that the reward for good deeds is multiplied by 70 during Ramadan!

▶ 4.  Menu Planning: 

Now that we have got the cleaning covered, it is time to move on to meal planning. I believe that doing this in advance will help make our transition into Ramadan much easier inshAllah. Sit down and  list down all the dishes that you plan to serve throughout the entire month I recommend that you consider including meals that can be made ahead of time in your menu. Here I am sharing
some food ideas which I am preparing for my family...

👉 Condiments:

Ramazan are considered to be incomplete without condiments, dips and chutneys.  I already prepared my Mint Chutney/Hari Chutney, Tamarind Ginger Chutney/ Imli and sonth ki chutney and Chaat masala

👉 Frozen Paratha's and Breads:

Forzen paratha's are great for Suhoor of Iftaar, or even for kids lunches, if you have pre made frozen parathas in freezer they will be super handy.

👉 Frozen Snacks:

Fried, spicy, snacks is a part of the Ramadan recipes and preparations. Although, Consume fried foods and sugar desserts in moderation. But here are some snacks I already prepared and kept in freezer

Chicken Puff/ Chicken Patties, Spring Rolls, Egg ans Cheese Spring Rolls, Shami kababs, Potato and Cottage Cheese Cutlets, Creamy Chicken Bread Cutlets,

▶ 5.  Organize Everything in Freezer: 

Your freezer can be your coolest friend and a big help when it comes to Ramazan preps. . I find that having an organized freezer makes our lives (and meal prep) so much easier. I bought these stack em up containers from DT to organize ramadan stuff in my garage freezer.
Develop a little system for where you store items, move older freezer meals to the front, newer ones to the back. When you go to grab something – make a point to grab the oldest item.
Label everything. Keep a permanent marker right by the freezer