Ramadan treats

on Wednesday, August 22, 2012
People might have been fasting all day for the holy month (they wake up to eat before 4:30am-ish, and break their fast around 7:30pm), but that doesn't mean food wasn't still all over the place.  The difference is that all the food is takeaway (the Malaysian term for "to go").  Forget about walking into a restaurant; all restaurants drag the tents and tables to the streets and set up shop out there.
The party's out on the streets
We went to Little India last week and the Indian Muslims were in their full culinary glory.  Special treats are made just for the season that you can't find the rest of the year.  We have Christmas (and all the special goodies that come with the season), they have Ramadan.  

Reuben was in heaven.  He knew exactly what to look for and veered straight for a special fried-foods man.  This dish, which comes with a sweet and spicy peanut sauce for dipping, has a name that I don't know.  
This man has fried up for you anything you could possibly desire fried.  Except Snickers (yes, I did that in college)

Pick a chunk of fried prawns and he'll chop it up for you
We also bought a giant stick of bamboo that had sticky rice cooked inside, all wrapped up snug in a banana leaf.   The hard part was cracking open the bamboo.  Reuben got out our giant chopping knife for that chore.  I still have a mess outside on my balcony to clean up from that.  But it was worth what was inside.

Rice cooked in bamboo.  How do they do that?
Now I know why it is said that most people gain weight during the month of fasting.  

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