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Next: about 9 to 11 Mar 2027

Eid al-Fitr

The feast that ends Ramadan, with sweet dishes in every country: ma'amoul, sheer khurma, baklava and kolak.

Dhaka congregants can be seen listening to khutbah prior to the Eid prayers held at the parade grounds of Bangladesh Police in Rajarbagh, Dhaka.
Photo: Mohammed Tawsif Salam, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Spices for Eid al-Fitr

After the month of fasting, Eid opens with a sweet. In the Levant and Egypt, ma'amoul, semolina cookies filled with dates or pistachios, are scented with mahlab, a spice from cherry stones, and rose water. Turkish baklava and lokum, Pakistani sheer khurma and Bangladeshi semai use cardamom and saffron, and in Morocco, gazelle horns are perfumed with orange blossom water and cinnamon. In Nigeria, spiced suya, with the peanut and chilli blend yaji, and jollof rice are festive. The spice at Eid is almost always a celebration of generosity.

The spices

MahlebThe nutty, cherry-like seed in Levantine Eid cookies.CardamomSheer khurma and sweets.SaffronUsed on special rice and pudding.CinnamonMoroccan pastries.
About this page

Written by the EveryMasala desk with AI assistance. Background: "Eid al-Fitr" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

The weekly digest

Every Monday: seven spices you may not know, what is cooking this week, and one blend explained step by step.