Jasmine Kamal 
4/13/21, 12:00 AM 
A big part of Ramadan is all about food and making delicious meals. So we decided who better than to ask the experts about their top cooking tips and share them with you. We’re starting off with none other than Mariam Hamdy. She is known for creating the most scrumptious recipes and most importantly all her plates look amazing.
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We asked Mariam Hamdy of her top chef secrets to make Ramadan cooking easier and tastier and here is what she shared:
1. Healthy Fillings
I always cook lentils in water and salt and keep a batch in the refrigerator in an airtight container and use it all week either for suhoor with eggs or in salads. It’s very healthy and good filling ingredient.
2. Soap's Base
- The base of any soup is the vegetable, some water or stock, spices and herbs and any additions you want to put. For example if I want to make a broccoli soup all I do is sauté some onions and garlic and then add the broccoli plus water and boil and then pulse and add cheese/cream. And that same concept is applicable on everything.
- Carrot soup, same thing, and then instead of the broccoli you use carrots and instead of the cheese and cream go for coconut cream. With these soupsyou can use standard spices like Laura leaves, cloves or cardamom and eithe rosemary or thyme.
Did you know we have a list of 30 Soup Recipes for Every Day of Ramadan Iftar
3. Sambousak Preparations
- I always do three types of sambousak filling, but the base is the same. I do a big batch of mixed cheeses, Ricotta, Gouda and Mozzarella and season it with salt, pepper and dried thyme. Divide into three batches, and keep one batch as is, another I add basterma, and another I add olives or dried fruits.
- Next, I fill the sambousak, to freeze them properly I lay them down on a tray and freeze for 15 min then put them in bags and label them and I use them throughout the month.
4. A Golden Tip
Whenever I cook something I double the recipe and keep one in the fridge/freezer for when I don’t feel like cooking.
5. Salad Hack
5. For the salad to live longer I cut everything and put it in an airtight container and have the dressing ready in a bottle in the fridge and whenever I need salad I just take from the container and add the dressing on top. To have a fresh salad every time that is not soggy from the dressing.
Don't forget to check out 30 Salad Recipes for Every Day of Ramadan Iftar
6. Bechamel Trick
6. The base of any good bechamel is roux, which is flour and butter cooked on the stove for a couple of minutes. Make a big batch and keep in the fridge and you can use that to thicken soups, sauces or to make bechamel. Much tastier than using cornflour.
Stay tuned as we'll be sharing with you chef secrets all throughout Ramadan.
Main Image Credits: Instagram @mariamhamdy
