Shopping for Ramadan

After a year, the holy month of Ramadan is coming again. Already the preparations for Ramadan have begun. It demands to pay special attention to the food in this month. One has to fast while staying healthy too in the extreme heat and humid weather of this time. So it needs drinks a lot with nutritious moderate meals; because it’s fasting in Baishakh!

A well-planned shopping for Ramadan can keep you much relaxed and worry-free. So everyone in the family can sit down one day to make a plan for Ramadan shopping. Keep in touch with us as we are one of your family members, always there to help you.

There are some points to keep in mind for the Ramadan shopping that will help you a lot:

* Experience shows that commodity prices go up before the start of Ramadan. So get out of the market bag as soon as possible. Even if it is a little, you can save some bucks!

* On a holiday, the whole family sits down to discuss. Do not exclude the little ones. You can list what you can buy according to everyone's wishes and needs.

* There are some advantages if you buy some products from the conventional market, you can make some savings if you buy some goods from the super shops. Now online marketplaces or shops also give you a lot of benefits; according to prices and times. Since you are going to do bulk shopping at once, it’s better to do a little market research before heading to the shopping. It will save time, labor and money.

* Fix up the amount of grocery shopping according to the proportion of your family members. Unexpected guests and invitations should also be kept in mind so that you don’t have to face a product shortage.

* Let the children know what they like to eat. Many children do not want to eat fruits. Ramadan allows you to encourage them to eat fresh fruit and fruit juices in Iftar. Elders also should try to consume more fruits. It is better not to buy packaged drinks. Even if you buy, check the ingredients first.

* Try to use less and healthier oils for cooking and frying. Even if the price is a bit high, you can get rid of various diseases.

* Instead of packaged liquid or powdered drinks, drink lemonade; bell juice; papaya juice, or watermelon juice as Iftar drinks. 

* Avoid white sugar. Use brown sugar or glucose to enhance the sweetness.

* Try to store the groceries right after bringing those at home. Put them in boxes/jars according to the quantity. Store beans and lentils after sun-dried. If there are insects, they will go away and the products will stay fresh for a long time.

* Always store powdered products (such as gram flour, rice flour, powder milk, etc.) in airtight containers. Also, keep those in small containers convenient for daily use. Nowadays there are beautiful handy glass jar or container can be founded in markets. You can buy those or can reuse used coffee/jam/jelly jars, after cleaning and drying them properly.

*Potato, onion, garlic and ginger can be bought in a large amount at a time but you need to know to store them properly. Don’t keep them in a pile; air should pass away through them. Check them twice a week to find the defective one so that you can consume those first and keep others fresh. 

* Vegetables and fruit shopping can’t be done a lot at once, and it is not convenient if you buy less, it goes pricy. However, if you follow some tricks, you can buy more raw and green products at a time and can be trouble-free for some days. For example, buy a good amount of tomatoes; make the puree and fridge those as cubes in an ice cube tray. Later you can gather all of those and put those in the deep fridge in an air-tight container. Mix two / three tomato cubes in ‘Chola Bhuna’. It will enhance the taste of the manifold. Also, you can store raw bananas by boiling those. Then smash them and store them in a deep fridge in an air-tight container. Now you can use them whenever you want to make ‘Banana Chop’.

* Buy manually made ‘Laal Chira’, in other words ‘Dheki Chata’; and Laal Muri, that means manually fried puffed rice without chemical. These two are must needed item for Iftar. Eat healthy food even if the price is a little higher. You can also enjoy the better taste.

* When buying packaged items, you must check the expiration date as well as the ingredients. If there are harmful ingredients, refrain from buying them; such as - testing salt.

* Since plastic products are harmful to health and the environment; use glass, steel, earthenware, or woodenware for food preparation and cooking. Exclude plastic products and buy something new with these materials if necessary.

Follow the above-mentioned tips and methods when planning to go shopping for Ramadan and afterward to store those products properly so that you can feel relax and hassle-free in the upcoming busy days.