From ‘Barbie’ chai to cheesy pistachio knafeh: Five unmissable dishes at Sydney’s most popular food festival

More than a million people are expected to visit Ramadan Nights Lakemba this month to break their daily fast and experience the cultural showmanship along Haldon Street at more than 70 food stalls.

The nightly food market, which attracted more crowds than The Royal Easter Show last year, coincides with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a time of prayer, self-discipline, reflection and charity.

From around March 11 to April 9, from sunrise to sunset, able-bodied and mature-aged Muslims will abstain from food, drink and other physical needs, believing this teaches restraint, sacrifice and empathy for those less fortunate.

But when it comes time for iftar (the first meal of the day), the streets around Lakemba station spring to life – plumes of smoke rise as Cocos Island chicken satay skewers hit the charcoal grill; wooden mallets are pounded into tubs of chewy Syrian ice-cream; and stallholders compete for attention, shouting about their brilliant chicken murtaba (a filled flatbread or pastry), or stretching chunks of knafeh, the pastry-topped sweet cheese dessert, as high as their arms will reach.

Festivities kick off at dusk and continue until about 3am, though late nights are hardly an anomaly for Lakemba. In September, it became the third NSW district to receive the internationally renowned Purple Flag, recognising the suburb for its safety, vibrancy and diversity after hours.

The markets are open to everyone, and charity and social enterprise Taste Cultural Food Tours hosts walking tours every Monday to Thursday. Taste provides training and employment for refugees and migrants, who draw on their Islamic background to guide guests on the 2½-hour cross-cultural culinary journey (and avoid long lines).

If you find yourself on Haldon Street this Ramadan, your senses overwhelmed, these are Good Food’s pick of five dishes to look for, with the help of Ramadan Nights veterans and Taste tour guides Noorlindah Saleh and Latife Dogan.

Dish spellings and names may vary between stalls.

Camel

Yassr Elyatim’s cheesy camel burgers started it all 17 years ago, with one small grill set up on Haldon Street. Now, it’s a major production outside Broaster Chicken, with long lines, multiple grills, and a large stuffed camel hanging from the awning. The once-a-year burgers, surprisingly tender, are still a must-order. But this Ramadan, they have competition: camel dumplings with goji berry sauce from Crescent Yum Cha on The Boulevard, and creamy camel milk hot chocolate at the Fresh Lemonade stall (next to Commonwealth Bank).

Try: Lakemba’s original camel burger ($15) at Ramadan Camels.

Outside Broaster Chicken, 106 Haldon Street, Lakemba, instagram.com/ramadancamels

Kashmiri chai

Taste guide Saleh has renamed Kashmiri chai “Barbie tea” for its rich pastel-pink hue. The colour, said to chase away the blues, emerges when green tea leaves are boiled with a dash of baking soda for upwards of an hour. The chemical reaction between the salt and the polyphenols creates a maroon liquid, which is later brightened with milk. Expect a warm, creamy tea infused with comforting spices such as cardamom and star anise, with a sprinkling of chopped pistachio nuts and a mild, salty aftertaste.

Try: Kashmiri tea ($5) at Mandi King Lakemba, where it’s swirled with pizzazz alongside grilled meat skewers.

99 Haldon Street, Lakemba

Murtaba

Fast, versatile and tasty, it’s a wonder this popular South and Southeast Asian street food staple isn’t more common in Sydney. While it’s appeared in many forms since it was introduced (some say in Yemen, others say in Jordan) more than a century ago, at Ramadan Nights it’s made with paper-thin filo pastry stretched over a hot grill, stuffed with minced meat, coriander and egg, then folded, fried and chopped to serve. The murtaba chef at Desi Paikari Bazar, Noor, reveals he learned the skill in a Malaysian refugee camp after fleeing Myanmar.

Try: Chicken murtaba ($15) at Desi Paikari Bazar, outside Exim Supermarket.

70 Haldon Street, Lakemba

Haleem

Hearty bowls of haleem stew are a Ramadan staple, rarely served outside the holy month. The warming combination of masala curried lentils, wheat or barley, and slow-cooked meat (often lamb, goat or beef or a combination) satisfies hunger cravings, and what it lacks in Instagram aesthetics it makes up for in punchy flavours. The Bangladeshi variety at Zam Zam Restaurant is sweat-inducingly spicy, while the Pakistani variety at Pista House is rich and aromatic.

Try: Bangladeshi haleem ($9) (with a side of daal puuri, fried dough stuffed spiced lentil filling, pictured top left) at Zam Zam Restaurant.
41 Haldon Street, Lakemba

Knafeh

Knafeh is one of the more eye-catching dishes at Ramadan Nights, owing to its long cheese pull (particularly magnificent at Albasha Knafeh & Coffee, thanks to a sunglasses-wearing stallholder channelling Salt Bae, the viral Turkish chef). It’s a Levant (Eastern Mediterranean) dessert that varies between regions, but is always a textural delight. It features a layer of molten sweet cheese topped with crispy spun pastry, golden and soaked in a sugar-based syrup. Yummy Yummy Knafeh is a long-standing favourite of market-goers, but Taste guide Dogan swears by Kanafandi, a quiet alternative on the corner of The Boulevard.

Try: The Palestinian-style pistachio knafeh ($15) at Kanafandi Nabulsi Knafeh House.
60 Haldon Street, Lakemba, instagram.com/kanafandi.sydney