Saturday, September 27, 2008

What's Cooking on Eid?

With the coming of Eid-ul-Fitr, our part of the world gets into action. There is spring cleaning to do, clothes to get stitched, shopping to finish, and of course, the very essence of Eid, mehendi to be applied.

But Eid is also about gorging on yummy culinary delights. It then comes as no surprise that a number of websites have devoted a special section to recipes on certain delicacies which can be prepared on Eid. These websites can be divided into two categories: websites with cooking recipes, and those that are exclusively dedicated to other celebrations on Eid-ul-Fitr.

For example, one interesting website has featured its recipe section at http://theeid.dgreetings.com/eid-ul-fitr-recipes/. This section is small, but carries a collection of some great recipes like biryani, sheer khurma and vermicelli. Along with the traditional delights, you will find some foreign dishes here as well.

The Culinary Digest (http://theculinarydigest.blogspot.com/2007/10/traditional-recipes-of-eid-ul-fitr.html) is more detailed when it comes to Eid recipes. Interestingly, instead of providing just a collection of recipes, this website also describes the diverse Eid cuisines with regards to which country they come from. For instance, did you know that in Egypt, cookies filled with nuts and covered with sugar powder are the equivalent of sheer khurma in this part of the world?

Probably the best feature about this website is the fact that the blogger has linked every dish associated with Eid-ul-Fitr to its specific country and, by clicking on the name, the recipe opens separately with its website. So, if you would like to try an Iraqi pastry dish, or Malaysian beef redang, this is the place to visit.

Another website which has an assortment of Eid recipes is http://www.ifood.tv/network/eid_ul_fitr/Recipes . What makes this website stand out from others is that the recipes here are submitted by the users of the website. Hence, it adds variety as well as a personal touch to all the recipes. Moreover, unlike other websites, the recipes here have been illustrated, showing you a visual of how the final product should look. Each recipe has three categories – summary, ingredients and directions. If you are stuck somewhere, you have an option to post a comment and clarify your problem.

If you Google for Eid recipes, you will get a staggering amount of results. But, if you delve deeper into those search results, you will discover that most of the websites claiming that they feature recipes for Eid-ul-Fitr only have one, or a couple of recipes. And the same recipe has been repeated word-for-word on many websites. So, at the end of the day, you do not gain much by ploughing through a gazillion websites.

But if you do like to cook Eid-specific recipes only, these three web-spots are a better finds from the lot. However, as you can see, Eid recipes do not have a specific, exclusive website as such. The recipes are scattered in different sections of various websites. Fortunately, given the huge number of recipe websites out there, all you need is to know what exactly you want to cook, and then hunt for that recipe.