#ShareRamadan with The Curry Corner Cheltenham

A couple of weeks ago, after being hooked up by a mutual friend, I met Monrusha. We'd spoken just once over the phone a few days before, but it instantly felt like I'd know her for ages, and with the event that was about to unfurl, that instance was just so fitting.

Monrusha is the daughter of Shamsul Krori (Sam), and together they head up The Curry Corner in Fairview. It's "the oldest and most highly regarded Bangladeshi restaurant in Cheltenham," having never changed hands in the 40 years it has been open. You might remember seeing them on Gordon Ramsay's The F Word quite some time ago, and they've clearly been keeping up their standards with Sam winning Cotswold Chef of the Year at The Cotswold Life Food & Drink Awards 2016 and boasting 2 AA Rosettes.

Being situated in a residential street, The Curry Corner finds itself at the heart of the local community and is the epitome of a neighbourhood restaurant. So in light of recent events - Manchester, London Bridge, Finsbury Park Mosque - Monrusha felt their should be an event to bring everyone together and break down the barriers of cultural division, promoting love, unity and positivity. Cue #ShareRamadan.

"I have always believed it is down to each of us to shape our society," she said, and with a whole host of Cheltenham dwellers invited - the mayor, MP, regular customers, neighbours, strangers (like The Chap and I) - it was set to make a statement. The First Cheltenham & Gloucestershire Ramadan Banquet.

If you're not up to scratch on what Ramadan's about - I wasn't - it takes place during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, the month in which the Quran was revealed, and consists of 29 or 30 fasts. It's a time of spiritual reflection, improvement and increased devotion and worship. All Muslims take part around the world, and from sunrise until sunset no food or water can be consumed (must be a killer when it's hot). 'Iftaari' is the name of the meal that breaks the fast - home cooked food designed to nourish the mind, body and soul - and when Imam makes the call to prayer at sunset, it's time to eat.

We arrived at The Curry Corner at 9pm, warmly welcomed by Monrusha and her family. I'll hold my hands up and say that I didn't fast during the day of the event, and can probably guarantee that neither did any of the other invited guests, but it was still pretty hard waiting until then for dinner. It also felt a little strange not having any alcohol; we've become so used to having welcome drinks to get people relaxed and ready to mingle, it was actually quite refreshing!

The tables in the restaurant were lined with various Indian dishes and at 9:45pm we sat down, gazing longingly at them. The little radio in the corner was blaring out crackly white noise, then there it was; the call to prayer.

The fast was traditionally broken with dates and water, followed by Khichuri; a comforting rice dish, delicately spiced and creamy in consistency. It's kind of like a risotto-cum-dhal and after a day of not eating, it's designed to gently ease you into your meal.

There were a variety of samosas and addictive lentil and onion bhajees alongside a spicy chickpea dish (Chaana Biraan). Then we had a bowl of aromatic cooked veg and a fresh cucumber salad to accompany the only meat dish of the night, and star of the show; Cotswold Lamb Biryani. Wowzas. Monrusha pointed out that this was a family Ramadan banquet with the ethos of The Curry Corner, rather than the restaurant's usual offerings, but I'd certainly be happy if I received something like that as a customer.

The meal ended with watermelon wedges and some Jalebis made by Monrusha's mum, Saleha. Swirls of deep fried batter which have been soaked in sugar syrup might sound heavy and stodgy, but freshly made they were light, crisp and sweet... I can see why Saleha was proud of them.

With a lot of tension surrounding the Muslim community of late, #ShareRamadan (which takes place globally) is a wonderful way to bring people from all walks of life together to share stories whilst sharing food. We're all guilty of putting ourselves and other people into different classes and categories, so this event was not only to open up our eyes a little, but to also promote being #OneCommunity, or more specifically #OneCommunityChelt.

"My hope is that others will follow the example we set and organise more events like this to open channels of communication. And of course we will enjoy good food, in good company!"

Well said Monrusha. I can see this being a much bigger thing next year.