Around ten delicacies are lined up in a shelf at a popular baker’s in Kozhikode, apart from the regular samosas, puffs, and banana fries. This spread is specific not just to the region, but to the season as well, and is a common sight in the city in the month of Ramzan.
Most bakeries and restaurants have set up a special counter for the Ifthar delicacies, all of which are highly in demand. Earlier, traditional snacks such as unnakkaya, pazham nirachathu, chatti pathiri, irachi pathiri, kilikkoodu, cutlets, and pakodas used to be restricted to households.
Women, amidst their fasting, prepared at least one of these for their evening breaking-fast ceremony.
Now these snacks are available in plenty. Many households choose to purchase, rather than prepare them at houses.
“I am a working woman. Preparing food for the breaking-fast ceremony after returning from work tires me. So I get them from the bakers. After all it is difficult to prepare these delicacies for just three people,” said Haseena Subair, a bank employee, while trying to choose between two varieties of cutlets. Haseena is a representative of a large class that devotes less time to cooking due to time constraint.
Ramzan eatables are in demand at the Ifthar parties organised, not just by big organisations but private individuals as well. The delicacies are purchased by those from other communities too as their taste is unique and synonymous with Kozhikode’s food heritage.
