Next week is the end of Ramadan, also known as Ramzan, the Muslim holy month of fasting and spiritual reflection. To mark its conclusion, Zainab Shah brings us five superlative recipes for a festive Eid al-Fitr lunch that are streamlined and simple to make. They deliver a meal with an “almost sacred sense of joy,” she writes in her accompanying article in The Times.
It’s a lovely feast no matter how, or whether, you’re celebrating Eid. There’s Zainab’s aloo palak, spicy potatoes and spinach layered with onion, garlic, tomatoes and ginger. Her Kerala-style vegetable korma, which comes together in under 20 minutes, is rich with coconut milk and thickened with purchased cashew butter, and has deep flavor from a combination of green chiles, turmeric and mustard seeds. Kofta (above) also makes an appearance; these meatballs made with ground chicken and simmered in a spiced tomato gravy are great with basmati rice or roti (store-bought or homemade) to catch their heady sauce.
And to drink, she offers refreshing glasses of mango lassi, in which the sweet fruit (fresh or frozen) is balanced with tart yogurt and honey. The drinks can be topped as you like with cardamom, pistachios or almonds.
As Zainab writes, “It’s an Eid celebration without the fuss and all of the intent: to simply gather” with your community.
Here’s another new recipe perfect for sharing: Yotam Ottolenghi’s golden, crunchy cheese and spinach phyllo rolls, which are ideal for parties big or small.
We also have plenty of excellent recipes for weeknights that are not celebrations or gatherings. (I mean, every work day we make it through should rate a celebration, but that’s different.) I’m hungrily eyeing Yossy Arefi’s latest recipe for sheet-pan miso-honey chicken thighs with asparagus, which gets a little charred in the oven. Similarly asparagus-forward but meatless is Ali Slagle’s lemony orzo with asparagus and garlic bread crumbs — as several cooks suggest in the notes, you can also make it with farro for something chewier and fiber-full.
Onward to dessert: Millie Peartree has a new chocolate chip cookie recipe that quickens my heart, made without a mixer from brown butter and chocolate chunks with just a hint of cinnamon in the batter. How does it compare with your tried and true chocolate chip cookie recipe? Make it and see! Then report back, because I’m dying to know. I’m at hellomelissa@nytimes.com.
If you haven’t yet, you’ll have to subscribe to get the recipes. Subscriptions support our work of bringing you new recipes every week and maintaining the tens of thousands already available at New York Times Cooking. You can also find us on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, where our deputy Food editor (and California native) Genevieve Ko demonstrates how to make her gorgeous and easy no-yeast orange rolls, suffused with snappy citrus zest.
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That’s all for now. Sam’s back on Friday, and I’ll see you Monday.
