During Ramadan, public kitchens have their work cut out as they take bulk orders, to be delivered at mosques and labour accommodations for iftar.
Mosques around the country serve free iftar to thousands of people, besides dozens of mega tents where thousands more eat after a day of fasting. By noon, tantalising aromas waft through the air as food is packed in individual boxes.
An iftar box typically contains biryani with chicken or lamb, vegetable saloona, salad, an apple, dates and fruit juice.
Gulf News Senior Photographer Pankaj Sharma and Staff Photographers Ahmed Kutty and Ahmed Ramzan take us on a tour of the many public kitchens across Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah
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A base kitchen of Keita Catering in Dubai Investment Park. It’s an action-packed production line as vegetable curry is being prepared in gigantic utensils.
Image Credit: Pankaj Sharma/Gulf News
Biryani being prepared in Bratt pans, each with a capacity to cook 150Kg of rice at a time. The tantalising aroma of food wafting through the air is unmissable.
Image Credit: Pankaj Sharma/Gulf News
Rice being boiled for biryani in a fully automatic rice boiler. 5,000kg of rice is cooked everyday for Iftar meals at the Keita Catering kitchen in Dubai Investment Park.
Image Credit: Pankaj Sharma/Gulf News
Iftar meals are served to people near Hamdan Street in Abu Dhabi every day.
Image Credit: Ahmed Kutty/Gulf News
Biryani being packed into individual boxes for distribution. By 4.30pm every day, more than 20,000 iftar meals are packed and ready to be transported across Dubai.
Image Credit: Pankaj Sharma/Gulf News
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Rush hour at a kitchen in Dubai.
Image Credit: Pankaj Sharma/Gulf News
Salad being packed into containers at a kitchen in Dubai.
Image Credit: Pankaj Sharma/Gulf News
Staff at Al Qaiem Public Kitchen in Sharjah pack Iftar meals.