RAMADAN COMING SOON!

The annual Ramadan month is just around the corner, just a few days more as a matter of fact. It is a special month of the year for over one billion Muslims throughout the world and for non Muslims in Malaysia as well.

According to the website (http://www.colostate.edu/Orgs/MSA/events/Ramadan.html) the Ramadan month is about intensive worship, reading of the Quran, giving charity, purifying one's behavior, doing good deeds and learning self-control through fasting. Fasting is a way of experiencing hunger and developing sympathy for the less fortunate, and learning to thankfulness and appreciation for all of God's bounties. Fasting is also beneficial to the health and provides a break in the cycle of rigid habits or overindulgence.

Now, I'm not a Muslim, but I luvvv the Ramadan month. Unfortunately, it is the month I overindulge in food, and can you blame me? It is only during this month can we find special, hard to obtain lip smacking dishes being sold everywhere.

So this year, I resolve to learn a bit of self control and
not binge. :-)

It's particularly important that I do this because while Muslims fast from dawn to dusk, I think about eating all the time! It's really not good!

Instead of indulging in heavy, oily, artery clogging, cholesterol laden meals, I will take it slow and eat less of these no-no food and up my intake of raw fruits and vegetables. I will eat more fruits like the rojak (a kind of salad consisting of tropical fruits topped with crunchy crushed peanuts and a sticky toffee like sauce), drink more coconut and sugar cane juice, eat some raw dried kurma and sweet pickled carrots before I dive into my spicy curries and oily Briyani rice.

I will partake in Nasi Ulam instead of Nasi Lemak because Nasi Ulam has lots of finely cut herbs mixed with the rice, making it one of the healthiest rice dishes during the Ramadan month.

I will not step foot at any restaurant Ramadan buffet line because it's the easiest way for me to lose my self control. Instead, I will buy food from the temporarily set up Ramadan food stands and share the food with my family at home, taking care not to over buy all the fragrant goodies.

I will make a conscious effort to pay attention to the quality of food I put into my mouth, and into the mouth of my loved ones.

Jasmin Choy
"Eat Raw Food Today" Facebook Group