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During Ramadan, a family comes together over samosas to break their fast

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:

We're mid-Ramadan now. It's a time of prayer, fasting and family for many Muslims. Northwest Public Broadcasting's Anna King spent time with one family as they prepared to break their Ramadan fast. She has this story from Pasco, Washington.

ANNA KING, BYLINE: A family of six is about to prep their grandmother's samosas.

ZAHRA ROACH: You can have till 5:40. That's five minutes.

REHAN ROACH: No.

Z ROACH: Tell your friends goodbye...

KING: Mother - Zahra Roach.

Z ROACH: ...And then come downstairs.

KING: Her eldest - 12-year-old son, Rehan.

Z ROACH: That's five minutes (laughter).

R ROACH: He's coming (ph).

Z ROACH: No, because I need your help setting this up. Just tell your friends goodbye.

KING: Grandma is 71-year-old Sabiha Khan. She's Zahra's mom.

SABIHA KHAN: This is not cut properly. This is how you do it. This?

R ROACH: Yeah, I...

KHAN: And then this, no. This. This.

R ROACH: Yes, I did that.

KHAN: This is a shape.

Z ROACH: You want the perfect triangle.

KHAN: Try it.

R ROACH: I literally was doing that...

KHAN: Oh, I - OK, here.

R ROACH: ...And you stopped me and did the whole thing for me, like you always do.

Z ROACH: Stop. Go like (ph)...

R ROACH: Wait, what do I do after this? I...

KHAN: You do this.

Z ROACH: Look at my perfect triangle, everybody.

R ROACH: Boom, baby.

Z ROACH: I win.

R ROACH: Boom. That's a burrito.

KING: Rehan just wants to play Fortnite. He's hastily making burrito-shaped samosas. He dumps them in the flashy oil.

(SOUNDBITE OF OIL SIZZLING)

KING: Now it's sunset. Time to break the day's fast. That starts with a bite of a date, then gulps of water.

(SOUNDBITE OF SWALLOWING WATER)

Z ROACH: Oh, my gosh.

R ROACH: It feels so good.

Z ROACH: It feels so good (laughter). You know that feeling when you haven't had water in a really long time, and then when you drink it, it just spiders down? You can, like, feel it going through your veins.

R ROACH: [inaudible] .

Z ROACH: See, I feel totally new. I feel like I'm fine now (laughter).

KING: Then samosas.

(SOUNDBITE OF FOOD CRUNCHING)

Z ROACH: I like your burrito-shaped one a lot, actually.

R ROACH: Yeah, that's...

Z ROACH: It tastes really good.

R ROACH: I know what I'm doing.

KING: After dinner, it's time to pray. It's often time for a bit of elbowing, as well.

Z ROACH: But I'm not correcting that behavior while they're (laughter) - at this point in time, I'm just glad that they're actually participating with me.

ZAHRA ROACH, REHAN ROACH AND SABIHA KHAN: (Praying in non-English language).

KING: For NPR News, I'm Anna King in Pasco, Washington.

Z ROACH: (Praying in non-English language). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Anna King

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities.
Visit ctpublic.org/latinos/we-are-connecticut for more stories and resources.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca dar a conocer historias latinas y elevar nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Para más información sobre nuestro esfuerzo por conectar con las comunidades latinas, visita  ctpublic.org/latinos/somos-ct