During Eid, it's important to reflect on what it really means to be a British Muslim

Ramadan is an important time for Muslims and I have early memories of taking part in it when I was a child and it was always viewed as a positive time. A time to reflect, to be thankful and to become closer to God. As a child you aren’t required to fast – it’s not obligatory according to the Qu’ran – but when I was young I was intrigued by my parents doing it and I wanted to take part as well. Needless to say, I often only lasted a day because my self-control left a lot to be desired. At the end of school, I’d run to the shops and buy loads of chocolate to eat after sunset, but by the time I got to breaking my fast, I didn’t feel like eating any of it.

As I’ve grown up, the experience has become easier because I’m more aware of the reasons behind the fast. It’s an experience I enjoy as it gives me a chance to reflect on my life, my character and, in essence, get closer to God and be more aware of him. For example, if I’m on my own and I think about having a sneaky chocolate during the fast, I know God is watching and I’m therefore more aware of his presence in general.

There are a lot of misconceptions around Ramadan and people don’t understand the reasons Muslims do it. It’s not a negative experience and the focus isn’t on taking anything away or missing out; the purpose is in fact to avoid things that usually distract us from working on ourselves and worship. Most people think that just refers to food, but it also means we’re more aware of how we treat others and how we act in the community. Ramadan is a time when I’ll try and be kinder to people, whether that’s shouting less at the kids or baking for one of my fellow Muslims to provide some treats for when they break their fast.

People often believe that we fast all day for 30 days, which would be extreme. It is a brutal detox but it’s not 24 hours a day! We only fast from sunrise to sunset, which is around 19 hours in the UK. And yes, that is still a very long time (in countries where the sun never sets in the summer, there are different rules such as breaking the daily fast when the sun sets in Mecca.)

I often get asked how we manage to stave off hunger and thirst for that long. Essentially it’s about looking at the bigger picture, as well as having the right mindset and intention to succeed. But we don’t go into Ramadan without any preparation at all: you need to make sure your body is ready for what it’s about to undertake (of course if you’re unwell or pregnant you don’t have to take part, but for all healthy Muslims it is seen as obligatory.) We prepare by cutting down on certain things; that could mean drinking less coffee or eating smaller meals throughout the day. We try to make the fasting period less of a shock to our systems by doing so in the run-up to Ramadan.

Food is known as central to Ramadan and is actually the reason I started my food YouTube channel. I now have a brilliant, supportive community of around 90,000 people and I love that my videos inspire them to get creative in the kitchen. I’ve seen a rise in views on my Ramadan recipes in the last couple of weeks, especially my Ferrero Rocher milkshake and Kheema croquettes. Perhaps that means people are a little more likely to indulge when they know they’ve fasted all day!

There’s a lot of curiosity about what we eat when we break our fast, which is known as Iftar. Some people assume that we gorge on chocolates, sweets and pizza but we in fact eat a lot of normal dinner-time foods. I cook a variety of foods, from lasagne to pasta and curry though sometimes we have mushy peas and fish fingers. There’s still a traditional element to what we eat, as a lot of Muslims will prepare samosas and spring rolls to have as a starter at Ifitar. In the mornings, around 1am, we have Suhoor which marks the start of the fast for that day. Food choices for this varies: I only like to have dates, fruit and water but one of my friends loves a full English breakfast!

It’s now Eid, which everyone looks forward to. It’s such a wonderful atmosphere as friends and family visit with food! We even go shopping the week before for new clothes as it’s a big celebration. This year, some of my family went to the local mosque while I prepared a signature Eid breakfast, which was traditional sweet milk (boiled milk with almonds, pistachio and cardamom). This goes alongside samosas and homemade Eid biscuits and sweet treats.

I’ve found that Ramadan is something most non-Muslim British people are open to discussing with me positively. I’ve never experienced any negativity towards my religion and part of what I enjoy about my YouTube community is interacting with people and explaining the culture and origins behind our beliefs as it’s important to help others understand. In an age of social media, there’s a great opportunity to extend understanding of one either. I’m lucky enough to have experienced that firsthand.

Over the past few years, the relationship between Muslims and the rest of the UK has become much more open than it used to be and that's partly due to the new generation of Muslims being more confident in being able to articulate the beauty of practicing the true essence of Islam. At its core, Islam is about being of good character, giving to charity and being of service to people.

There’s no denying that the British Muslim community has seen some negativity over the last few years, but at the same time as this we saw interest in Islam and the Muslim community grow. For the most part, this interest has translated into a deepened knowledge that that community is about more than just mosques and curries. We contribute to society in so many ways, and we’ll be thinking about how we can extend that help during our Eid celebrations.

Anisa Karolia runs the cooking tips YouTube channel Cook With Anisa