Ramadan Meals In the Time of Quarantine
Author: Arsalan Iftikhar
The Islamic holy month of Ramadan in this time of the COVID-19 quarantine crisis look and feels different for more than a billion people around the world who are observing it this year. As Muslims know, Ramadan is a community event every year that is as much about preparing hearty meals and breaking bread together as it is about fasting from food and drink during the daylight hours.
Rather than shared evening iftars (fast-breaking meals) with our family and friends, and mosques filled to the brim every night, this Ramadan is one of mostly solitude and inward focus.
However, the communal aspect Ramadan is still present amongst us. This year, rather than joining neighbors and friends to break the fast and pray side by side, we are learning new ways to connect via Zoom, motivate via WhatsApp and feed the body and soul via Saffron Road Halal Meals that we can find in grocery store frozen aisles.
With our world on pause due to the coronavirus pandemic, one of the main ways we can continue to share the Ramadan spirit of gratitude and giving is by delivering (or sending) food to others in non-traditional ways as well.
Especially for those people quarantined in small quarters in large cities like New York, LA or Chicago, Saffron Road’s ready-made frozen halal meals are the perfect way to still enjoy sharing a delicious and healthy fast-breaking meal which fit easily inside their freezers. Not only are they made with the highest quality ingredients and purity of food, they are halal for Muslims! They also come safely and conveniently packaged in individual and family size portions, in case you want to safely drop some packaged meals via social distancing at your family or friend’s front doors.
Saffron Road has a range of snacks, appetizers, entrees, soup bowls and simmer sauces from a melody of world cuisines. Like the diversity of Ramadan, these foods fit every table and home, including crunchy chick peas and baked lentil chips for a healthy midnight snack during Ramadan.
Your friends, family, neighbors and co-workers will appreciate and enjoy the variety of ready-made halal dinners whether they fast or not: Chicken Biryani, Lemongrass Basil Chicken, Beef Bulgogi, Chicken Tikka Masala, Sesame Ginger Salmon and more! Little ones (and big people) will love Saffron Road Chicken Nuggets and Chicken Tenders.
During this time of unexpected isolation, when going to the grocery store is something that we can no longer take for granted, Saffron Road is a reliable, consistent and trusted food brand in our home. There is no need to find flour or forage for ingredients, when Saffron Road has light and airy Tandoor Baked Naans and crispy Vegetable Samosas that you can fit into one grocery cart.
During this month of Ramadan, some of my wife’s favorite Saffron Road meals include their delicious Chicken Pad Thai dinners, Turkish Fig and Goat Cheese appetizers and Coconut Curry Chicken. A doctor and health expert, she also likes to make delicious low-carb nachos with Saffron Road’s Baked Chickpea Chips, while she snacks on Korean BBQ Crunchy Chickpeas to curb the midnight post-prayer munchies.
This quarantine crisis allows us to conveniently share Saffron Road meals to help share the beauty of experiencing this blessed month. Overcoming obstacles, sacrifice and self-discipline are truly what Ramadan has been about all along.
This year, as families stay home together during Ramadan should solidify our connectedness and kinship as a human race. We can make this forced quarantine a welcome lull for reflection and regrouping this month. During this difficult and lonely time for many people, we can provide the gift of Saffron Road for those people who might be in need of a warm meal on any given night. Saffron Road’s diverse dishes will bring smiles and suit every palate. One my favorite sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is: “What actions are most excellent? To gladden the heart of a human being, to feed the hungry, to help the afflicted, to lighten the sorrow of the sorrowful, and to remove the wrong of the injured.”
So during the first quarantine, virtual and remote Ramadan of our lifetime, I hope that we will remember those less fortunate than us while enjoying delicious halal meals from great companies like Saffron Road.
Given COVID-19, you can order Saffron Road’s products for home delivery by ordering items ahead of time online on Amazon, Whole Foods Market, Instacart, Shipt, Thrive, Walmart, Peapod, Fresh Direct and many others.
Arsalan Iftikhar is an international human rights lawyer, founder of TheMuslimGuy.com and author of SCAPEGOATS: How Islamophobia Helps Our Enemies & Threatens Our Freedoms.
