page_title: Iftar
section_title: Pakistan
hierarchical_section_title: Iftar / Around the world / Pakistan
caption_attribution_description: English: Samosa are most popular snack in pakistan especially in Ramadan
context_page_description: Iftar, also known as ftoor, is the evening meal with which Muslims end their daily Ramadan fast at sunset. They break their fast at the time of the call to prayer for the evening prayer. This is their second meal of the day; the daily fast during Ramadan begins immediately after the pre-dawn meal of suhur and continues during the daylight hours, ending with sunset with the evening meal of iftar.
context_section_description: In Pakistan, almost everybody stops to rejoice for a few minutes following the iftar sirens and adhan (call to prayer). Preparations for iftar commence about three hours beforehand, in homes and at roadside stalls. The fast can be ended by eating dates, or simply by drinking water, if dates are not available. Many restaurants offer iftar deals, especially in the big cities like Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad. Iftar as a meal in Pakistan is usually heavy, consisting mainly of sweet and savoury treats such as jalebi (pretzel-shaped, deep-fried batter, soaked in sugar syrup), samosas (minced meat and/or vegetables, wrapped in dough and deep-fried or baked), pakora (sliced vegetables, dipped in batter and deep-fried) with ketchup or chatni, and namak para (seasoned cracker), besides the staple dates and water.
  Other items such as chicken rolls, spring rolls, Shami Kebabs, fruit salads, papad (sheets of batter that are then sun-dried, deep-fried or roasted until they have the texture of potato chips or crisps), chana chaat (chickpea salad), and dahi balay (or "dahi baray"—fried lentil dumplings served with yoghurt) are also very common. Amongst the Punjabi, Sindhi and Mohajir households, iftar is often followed up by a regular dinner later during the night. Those in the north and west, including Pashtuns, Balochis, and Tajiks, on the other hand combine dinner and iftar. Laghman soup (noodle soup), locally called Kalli, is an iftar staple in Chitral and parts of Gilgit.
  After iftar, Muslims rush to the mosques to offer Tarawih (an 8 or 20 rakat Muslim prayer during the month of Ramadan). Various television channels also stop their normal telecast and broadcast special Ramadan transmissions, especially at the time of Sehar and Iftar. The whole month of Ramadan is marked in Pakistan as a festive season when people make donations to the poor and give charity. Some organizations and companies also offer free iftar meals to the common people.
caption: Samosas are a common Iftari snack in Pakistan.
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