Iftar entrees: spiced fruit chaat and red lentil soup – recipe

‘There are no rules in fruit chaat,’ says recipe writer Kiran Afzal. Photograph: Kiran Afzal/Recipes for Ramadan

This year, Saturday 2 April is the first day of Ramadan and the start of a month’s fasting for most Australian Muslims.

Over recent years, breaking the fast at nightly iftar meals with neighbours, colleagues and the wider community has become a special tradition in multicultural countries like Australia. For the Muslim community, it’s an opportunity to invite others into their lives, to share food, hospitality and conversation – and for those of us who are not Muslim, an invitation is an opportunity to better our understanding of other cultures and traditions and to build lasting friendships.