Suhrawardy Udyan food vendors turn to iftar

During Ramadan most eateries, whether they are vendors or restaurants, change their menus to cater needs of people at iftar in the evening.

Some completely stop serving their usual food items in the month. Among these are the food vendors found at Suhrawardy Udyan near the TSC gate. 

The stalls, which usually sell chotpoti, paratha and tea, sell iftar items during Ramadan.

Mohammad Raju's stall which sells breakfast and snack items become a 10-iftar item outlet.

He has been selling parathas, eggs and alu bhaji (fried eggs and potatoes) for the last eight years. But in the month of fasting, he sells items like jilepi, beguni (fried breaded eggplant) and alu chops (fried mashed potatoes).       

"There is hardly any sale during the day in Ramadan, so I sell iftar items in the afternoon," he said.

The alu chops and chicken items cost Tk 10 but all other items are Tk 5 at his stall.

Abdul Malek runs an iftar outlet in the evening. Normally, he sells chotpoti but in Ramadan he sells iftar items.   

"The sale increases after the 20th of Ramadan. It is mostly students who come to eat here. Sometimes when they throw iftar parties at the halls, we get orders for 700 to 1,500 packets," he said.

Siblings Sumon and Imon who run a lemon juice and tea stall, increase their food items to include green chilli, coriander, mint, mustard oil, cucumber and puffed rice -- all ingredients needed to make "muri makha".

Their stall sees customers just minutes before iftar.

Shuvo, Tipu and Mosharraf who came to play cricket at the park said they usually have iftar there with friends unless it rains.