In the past, we have shared with you many typically Turkish recipes and traditions or customs Turks have for Ramadan but there are so many Muslims worldwide, from Indonesia to Saudi Arabia, and each culture comes with its own practices and preferences for celebrating this holy month.

To break away from the oh-so-traditional this year, we dived into a light fast-breaking to help you ease into Ramadan and fasting after not eating for hours and this week, we're bringing in a more international voice in a spin-off from our mostly-Turkish perspective.

I am pleased to say that we have Aatika Ahmed on board to authentically share her cultural richness with all of us, all the way from Pakistan! I was interested in a typically Pakistani Ramadan iftar table but reading through a slew of blogs with no idea if they were even doing it justice, I just had to go to the source itself. Like how we collected and compiled the best for our Thanksgiving menu and asked our American friends to authenticate recipes and offer valuable insight, this time we leave the stage to Aatika:

Pakora

Despite promising myself to eat healthy this month, I make an exception for pakoras. After all, few if any Pakistani households go without them during Ramadan. Pakoras are deep-fried vegetables dipped in a spicy batter and served hot. There are many variations of this snack but I am going to share the recipe of my favorite kind: potato pakora, commonly known as "aalu pakoras" in Pakistan. They are often made for iftar and can be served with mint and coriander raita (spicy yogurt) or any other type of chutney.

Here is a basic recipe for this delicious goodness:

Ingredients