This year, Eid will be celebrated across Australia with a great deal of enthusiasm, happiness and lavish spreads of delicious food.
Eid al-Fitr is an Islamic celebration that marks the end of Ramadan and Eid al-Adha comes around a few months after and is also a celebration that occurs towards the end of Hajj, an annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
“Muslims who don’t go to Mecca celebrate it [at home]. Families and friends gather together to enjoy their time with each other. We eat a lot and there’s always plenty of beautiful food on offer, including sweets," says Huda AlSultan, an Accredited Practising Dietitian and cook who was born in Saudi Arabia.
Eid presents an opportunity for us to know each other a bit better. So let's look at Eid as a chance to create memorable moments, to care about each other and be thoughtful.
If you have a dietary requirement or food intolerance, you may have mixed feelings about what you’ll eat during the upcoming gatherings. Will there be any culturally appropriate (and utterly tasty) sweets for you to feast on?
AlSultan believes people should take celebratory days like Eid as a positive opportunity to embrace our differences – including the differences we all have in the way that we eat. To do that, she tells SBS, that we should inclusively cater for guests with dietary requirements.
“Eid presents an opportunity for us to know each other a bit better. So let's look at Eid as a chance to create memorable moments, to care about each other and be thoughtful.”
Embrace difference by accepting food intolerances
Cook and cookbook author, feels the same way. The mother of three has one child with a nut allergy and another child with a cow’s milk intolerance.
Given that nuts and dairy are a big part of many sweets, she has gained a strong culinary awareness of how to create desserts that cater for various dietary needs.
She says there are a few clever ways to safely cook around a dietary preference or health issue while staying true to your own food beliefs and making sure every guest is catered for.
So be experimental and open to eating sweets from different cultures to suit your dietary requirements. We have the opportunity to do that here in Australia.
“In Australia today, there are so many different ingredients available that cater to dietary restrictions and food preferences,” tells Elshafei, who was born in Saudi Arabia to a South Korean mother and Egyptian father.
“It's also important to remember that Islamic [celebratory food] is not limited to just Middle Eastern sweets. It includes sweets from Southeast Asia, Europe, Africa, India and Pakistan [and more]. So be experimental and open to eating sweets from different cultures to suit your dietary requirements. We have the opportunity to do that here in Australia. It's a matter of acceptance.”
Here are seven sweets to eat at Eid that can be made to suit specific dietary requirements.
Riz bi haleeb
Rice pudding variations, which are naturally gluten-free, can be found in many cultures from India (semiya payasam) to Southeast Asia (pulut hitam) and The Balkans (sutlijas).
However, the Arabic version of rice pudding - riz bi haleeb - is typically made of slow-cooked rice, milk and orange blossom water. This dish can also be modified to suit dairy-free tastes. Simply swap out the cow’s milk for oat milk or lactose-free milk.
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Riz bi haleeb (rice pudding)
Vegan or gluten-free ma'amool
These popular Middle Eastern cookies are made with a thick pastry, created with ghee. But if you want to cut out the dairy element, use vegan butter.
For a gluten-free option, try making ma'amool with your favourite gluten-free flour. Or, source a bakery that will make them for you.
AlSultan: “In the past, you would have struggled to find ma'amool that suited different dietary requirements. But these days, there are many home-based businesses and boutique bakeries that cater for people with dietary requirements.”
Sugar-free baklava
Baklava is a popular sugar-heavy dessert across Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, Bosnia, Egypt and Syria.
If you are living with type one or two diabetes, have insulin resistance or have gestational diabetes, high-sugar foods should be avoided. The upside is that many Middle Eastern shops now sell sugar-free baklava replacing the sugar with ingredients like stevia.
If you're unsure about whether the sugar-free product is right for you, chat with the food producer direct and your GP.
Korean tteok
Tteok is a type of sweet, chewy cake from Korea, made with rice flour.
“There are well over 50 - 100 types of Korean rice cakes,” Elshafei says, as she dips into her South Korean heritage. “The celebratory rice cakes usually always have a filling. Two vegan flavours are pumpkin and red bean – these options can also cater for many dietary requirements.”
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Turkish delight
Turkish delight
Traditional Turkish delight should contain no dairy and is also typically vegan.
However, some modern recipes may use gelatine as a setting agent and include milk-based ingredients to lower their sugar content.
If you’re in doubt, check the nutritional label on the back of your store-bought product’s packaging. Or, make your own Turkish delight the traditional way.
But these days, there are many home-based businesses and boutique bakeries that cater for people with dietary requirements.
Awamat
Awamat originates from Lebanon. However, the same dessert can be found throughout the Middle East, the Gulf and countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea bearing a different names: awwami, awamet, loukoumades and lokma.
Whatever the name, the sweet characteristically features doughnut balls coated in simple syrup. This dessert is dairy-free, egg-free and vegan.
Znood el sett
This Arabic sweet is crispy on the outside, fried and dipped in sugar syrup, and smooth in the middle, filled with a thick, clotted cream called ashta. “They are really delicious.”
The treat is easy to make nut-free: simply ask the cook or producer to forgo the nuts on top completely or keep the nuts separate.
