How haleem conquered Hyderabadi hearts

The dish has its origins from West Asia

June 10, 2016 12:00 am | Updated October 18, 2016 02:42 pm IST - HYDERABAD:

Ramzan special:Haleem being sold the city.– Photo: G. Ramakrishna

Ramzan special:Haleem being sold the city.– Photo: G. Ramakrishna

Haleem is now the calling card for Brand Hyderabad. The dish that was once served at an occasional party by Sultan Saif Najaf Jung of Mukalla, has become an integral part of iftaar and the month of Ramzan.

“We export to many countries, including Qatar and the U.A.E. We have manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and other countries as well,” says Muhammad Majeed, a textiles shop owner who transformed a small hotel in a rundown neighbourhood of Shahalibanda in Hyderabad into a massive enterprise with his one-dish wonder.

How this simple breakfast dish of meat and wheat gruel of Arab and West Asian origin became Indian is a fascinating story of sheer luck, entrepreneurship and adaptability. “Sultan Saif Najaf Jung, who lived near Charminar, used to serve haleem on special occasions. His family hailed from Mukalla, which was then a British protectorate, and had settled down in India since generations before. It was Saif Najaf Jung who suitably modified it for the Indian palate,” says city historian Sajjad Shahid.

But the origin of the dish is contested by some who say it is a dish of West Asian origin served at the end of the day during Muharram. “India has welcomed West Asian influences for hundreds of years. So, it is possible. But the man who really popularised the dish is Sultan Saif Najaf Jung,” says Mr. Shahid.

How popular is the dish can be easily grasped from the fact that two months before the Muslim month of piety and fasting, signages appear on busy streets beginning the countdown to the new moon of the Muslim month of Ramzan. For most people in Hyderabad, the signs appear like a photograph of haleem.

A single bowl of haleem this year is selling for between Rs. 60 for the chicken variety and Rs. 150 for the meat one by roadside eateries. Before the vendor scoops out a bowl out of a cauldron in wood fired mud and brick oven, it is a journey of many hours.

“We start in the morning at about 3 a.m. when the meat is brought in. After it is boiled for over six hours in spiced water, the other ingredients, including wheat and our special selection of spices, are added and then slow cooked for another three hours and it is ready by evening,” says Adil Khan, who has put up a bhatti (clay oven) near Bahadurpura. There are hundreds of haleem outlets that have cropped up in the city.

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