This year Ramadan started on April 2 and ends on May 2. In France, nearly 5 million people will fast daily during this holy month in the Muslim religion. The fast starts at sunrise, during the “Fejr” prayer, and ends at sunset, during the “Maghreb” prayer. Evening meals are generally an opportunity to get together with friends or family to taste sweet and savory specialties and share a moment of conviviality. But if most traditional dishes are prepared with meat, it is quite possible to spend a 100% vegetarian Ramadan. Proof with these eight easy, gourmet and satisfying recipes.
Slata mechouia
The slata Méchouia (literal translation of “grilled salad”) is a Tunisian specialty that can be eaten as an appetizer, main course or side dish. It is a salad of grilled vegetables, prepared on the basis of tomato peppers, onions and chili peppers. Some versions also add eggplant. This gourmet and fragrant dish is quick to make and is often eaten during the month of Ramadan. In addition, it can be kept for several days in an airtight container: ideal for those days when you don’t have time to prepare the fast-breaking meal or “iftar”. To prepare a lettuce méchouia you will need:
- 2 red peppers
- 2 green peppers
- 3 peeled tomatoes
- 1 onion
- 6 cloves of garlic
- Black olives
- Salty
- Olive oil
- 2 peppers
You can follow the steps of the recipe by watching the video below, signed Saliha Cuisine:
vegetable sticks
Bricks are part of the dishes that can be found at all tables during the holy month of Ramadan. And rightly so, topped with meat, tuna or potato, these crispy specialties make a tasty and satisfying hot starter. If you don’t eat meat or fish, don’t panic! It is quite possible to cook vegetarian and tasty bricks with just a few ingredients. For this you need:
- 2 aubergines
- 1 onion
- 2 tomatoes
- Coriander
- Salt pepper
- 10 stone slabs
- Olive oil
- Oregano
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
The YouTube channel Chocmiel shows you in video how to make your homemade vegetarian bricks:
Vegetarian Hira
A specialty from Morocco and western Algeria, harira or hrira is traditionally eaten as a dish to break the fast during Ramadan. Made with meat, onions and legumes, this soup comes a thousand and one ways and, good news, it can also be adapted as a vegetarian version. This dish is also quick to prepare and can be cooked in large batches to anticipate multiple meals. Besides being comforting, hrira is also thirst-quenching and fills your stomach with its warmth and spicy taste. To prepare an express hrira without meat you will need:
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 very ripe tomatoes
- 1 large chopped onion
- 50 g cooked chickpeas and golden lentils
- 40 g chopped parsley, coriander and celery
- 1 teaspoon turmeric, ras el hanout, ginger and pepper
- 1 and a half tablespoons of salt
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 50 grams of flour
- 300ml water
- 2 liters of boiling water
This video from Casa Bena Cuisine explains how to prepare this traditional soup:
Msemens stuffed with vegetables
Msemens are Arabic puff pastry pancakes that can be found all over the Maghreb and also in the Middle East. They are prepared from semolina and flour and can be served with tea, drizzled with honey and melted butter, or as a dish filled with savory ingredients. They are especially consumed during festive occasions or the month of Ramadan and are sure to delight the taste buds of the whole family. For a savory version of msemens filled with vegetables you will need the following ingredients:
- 300 g very fine semolina
- 200 g white wheat flour
- 200ml water
- 1 onion
- 1 bell pepper
- 1 carrot
- Fresh coriander
- Salt pepper
- Vegetable oil for cooking and puff pastry
The Youtube channel Moroccan Cuisine explains the details of the recipe in video. Look :
vegetarian tagine
Ideal for a Ramadan evening or a family meal, the tagine is the convivial dish par excellence. This dish, which bears the same name as the earthenware bowl in which it is cooked, resembles a braised stew. This dish is of Berber origin and is found all over the Maghreb and is available in different recipes, with meat, fish or vegetables. Something for all diets! To prepare a vegetarian tagine, healthy and delicious at the same time, you will need:
- 2 onions, chopped
- 2 carrots
- 2 sliced tomatoes
- 1 small zucchini
- 4 potatoes quartered
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- saffron thread
- 1 tbsp parsley
- salt
- olive oil
- water for cooking
- 1/2 candied lemon
- purple olives
To discover the different stages of the preparation of the tagine, you can watch the video below, presented by the YouTube channel Cuisine de Fadila:
Almond Baklava
Baklawas are among the pastries that can be found on all tables during the month of Ramadan. These pies made of filo dough, almonds and sometimes pistachio exist in different variants depending on the territories and regions – they can be found in the Maghreb, the Middle East, as well as the Balkans and the Caucasus. In Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, for example, the recipe replaces sugar with honey. Ideal to end your meal on a sweet note, baklawas are tasted without hesitation for their sweetness and crunch. To prepare these pastries at home you will need:
- 1 pack of 20 sheets of filo dough, about 40×30
- 1 jar of homemade or store-bought honey
- 300 g clarified butter (butter stripped of milk)
For the filling
- 700 g medium almonds
- 200 g sugar
- 1 tablespoon soft butter
- Orange Tree Flower Water
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
For the homemade dough
- 250 g flour
- Salty
- 50 g butter
- A few drops of vinegar
- Orange blossom water + water to pick up the paste
The Macabaneauxdélices Youtube channel shows you how to make these sweets in the video below. Look :
mhalbic
The Algerian mhalbi is a dessert that resembles a row current flavored with orange blossom. It is mainly consumed during the month of Ramadan and it is not for nothing that this dessert is festive, gourmet and easy to prepare. In the middle of pastries, it is a fresh and flavored dessert that will surprise you and your loved ones. To make this sweetness you will need:
You will need:
- 1 liter of milk
- 4 tablespoons rice flour
- 4 to 5 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch or cornflour
- 5 tablespoons of orange blossom water
The stages of preparation of this dessert can be found in the following video, presented by the YouTube channel Amour de cuisine Soulef:
Maamoul with dates
Date maamouls are traditional Syrian cookies filled with date paste. Maamouls are eaten all over the Middle East where they can also be filled with walnuts, pistachios and other combinations. Made with semolina, these shortbread cookies are the perfect accompaniment to tea, on Ramadan nights, or for breakfast before resuming the fast. To prepare maamouls with dates you will need:
- 300 g fine semolina
- 90 g white flour
- 170 g samneh (clarified butter or ghee)
- Paste date
- 4 to 5 tablespoons of milk
- 1 pack of baker’s yeast
- Maamoul mold or a fork to make small drawings
Little Syrian’s YouTube channel explains the details of this traditional recipe in the video below:
There you have it, you have everything you need to prepare sweet and savory dishes for the holy month of Ramadan, and in a vegetarian version!