What to eat at Lakemba's Ramadan Nights

The buzzing Ramadan Nights market in Sydney's Lakemba is in full swing and there is plenty to enjoy and learn about from the stallholders along the way.

Source: SBS Food

I've been coming to Haldon Street in Sydney's Lakemba since 2016. Each year, I come with my family to break fasting and iftar. Over the years, the stallholders and food have continued to support the local community, the crowds have increased, the roads have closed and the queues (or perhaps our patience to queue) have certainly been stretched.

Ramadan Nights is a month-long food market that honours the Islamic holy month. What began as a place for the Muslim community during a time of reflection has since spread and gained mainstream popularity with communities coming from all over Sydney coming to enjoy the food on offer. With popularity, comes responsibility and there is much to learn and uncover about the foods, stallholders, the local community and what this festival is all about.

For many migrants, these markets are a reminder of what Ramadan is about back in their respective homelands and it is also a glimpse into the foods, flavours and also communities that flourish within and around the communities of Lakemba and western Sydney.

For my family, it's been about the cuisines on offer, remembering that the Muslim community spans many nations. It is also about the businesses that work all day and night, often until 2-3am, and are not just active during this month-long festival, but often set up a stand as a way to promote their menu and their specialities in front of their Haldon Street shop fronts or businesses that come from across Sydney to partake and share. Alimah Bilda and Aman Mohd of Island Dreams Cafe on Haldon Street explain just how much the area has changed over the decades since they first opened up their business back in 1996. "It has changed so much and it feels more inclusive, more diverse and that people are wanting to know more about us and understand what we are doing," Alimah shares with SBS. 

Like Alimah and Aman, many of the people behind the foods you try at this festival have been making these dishes and sharing their stories and traditions for decades. 

Please enjoy a glimpse into what I ate one night this week (all in order of operation and all in the name of... research), but there is plenty to uncover as well.

Source: SBS Food

Chicken satay and homemade bubble tea

Alimah Bilda and Aman Mohd have owned Island Dreams Cafe since 1996, but their chicken satay recipe goes back decades and has been passed down for too many generations to account for, Bilda tells me. The recipe hasn't strayed in the 50+ years they have been cooking it and you'll find them brushing and fanning their chicken thigh meat over hot coals in preparation for a rich and smooth satay that lightly coats each skewer. 

Be sure to try one of their homemade bubble teas during the Ramadan markets - watermelon crush, teh tarik or pandan.

Murtabak

Homemade and well-oiled balls of dough are hand-pulled and flipped before being placed on a hot plate grill, before being filled and folded. Murtabak is a fried flatbread and a variation of the popular Malaysian roti canai that can come in a variety of fillings depending on where they are being prepared. At the food wholesaler, Desi Paikari Bazar, you'll be mesmerised by the business of the stations, as well as the charcoal skewers being rotated and the four or five murtabak on the go, at any given time.

Source: SBS Food

For savoury, you can choose from beef, vegetable or chicken, egg and onion with a hit of lemon and a choice of chilli, chopped raw onion and coriander on top are all optional. While chicken is the most popular order, you can also ask for a sweeter version featuring banana and chocolate for those who are partial to a double dose of flatbread.

Source: SBS Food

Haleem

Haleem is a slow-cooked beef and lentil stew brimming with gentle spices. Popular throughout the Indian sub-continent, it gets its consistency from the continuous stirring during the cooking process. Grameen Restaurant is run by a Bangladeshi family and they begin preparing their recipe 4-6 hours in advance and serve 50 litres of haleem every weeknight during the markets, and 100 litres on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, so look out for the giant stainless steel pot.

Rumali (roomali) roti

You will come to expect lots of vibrant chatter, banter and shouting behind the stalls, cheesy pulls from the different kunafeh recipes and also lots of flatbreads and roti being tossed and oiled, filled and flipped. Rumali roti is often eaten with tandoori dishes and curries and the word 'rural' translates to 'handkerchief' reminiscent of its super-thin and soft material-like dough.

Source: SBS Food

Koshari

The hallmarks of comfort, koshari is a simple and nourishing Egyptian vegetarian dish consisting of lentils, macaroni and caramelised onions. You can find Ismaat serving his recipe with a choice between a spicy or not-so-spicy tomato-based sauce and topped with extra crispy onion. It's almost as easy to pull together as it is to eat!

Source: SBS Food

Falafel

If the street is a little too much, you can tuck away into El Manara where Amir has been making falafel and sharing his Lebanese recipes for over three decades. A plate of falafel alongside tahini, hummus, and baba gannouj is calling and the plate of pickles and fresh mint are perfect pita bread stuffers, their pic. Lean into their pickled green chilli.

Source: SBS Food

Katayef

Lightly yeasted Middle Eastern pancakes are filled with a choice of two fillings: ashta (clotted cream) or walnut and rosewater. While you'll often have them 'raw' or folded with their respective fillings, you can get your hands around the deep-fried version; sealing the deal in both crispness and sugar syrup-soaked goodness.

Kashmiri tea

Your eyes will instantly be attracted to a pot brimming with a dusty bright liquid. This is Kashmiri tea- brewed with black tea leaves and baking soda, which is then mixed with milk and warming spices (cardamom, cinnamon and star anise) and rose petals and leaves and saffron are added for a gentle flavour and is ladled into small cups that are topped with crushed pistachio nuts.

Kunafeh

Kunafeh or knafe is a sweet cheese pastry dessert popular throughout the Levant. Each country has its own version, and generally, there are two types on offer: kishneh, with crisp kataifi pastry on top, and the other farkeh, made with ground semolina dough on top. Both are delicious and both are synonymous with the quintessential cheesy pull.

I tried farkeh here and ask for extra pistachio.

Source: SBS Food

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Bring extra empty containers for takeaway ease and if you manage to stumble upon this mesmerising funnel cake favourite, mshabak, be sure to order two!

Ramadan Nights Lakemba is open from 21 March until 20 April, between 4pm and 3am.

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