Inside the cool interiors of the 700-year-old Tahsildar Pallivasal, cook Mohammed Rabik is getting the Kanji ready for the day. Standing next to a chulha that burns fiercely, he peeps into a massive cauldron and stirs the boiling broth inside with a six-foot long rotund bamboo stick. In his fifties, the task appears hard for his wiry frame. But he does it with much vigour and devotion. And he has been doing the same for over a decade now. “Every Ramzan, I volunteer to cook Kanji at the mosque. I consider it a service to God,” he says. “It’s challenging to stand and cook continuously for four or five hours, while you are fasting.”
Every year, during the holy month of Ramzan, mosques in town make the nonbu kanji, the customary rice gruel which is part of the Iftar meal to break the day’s fast. Muslims and other community people gather at various mosques to have a sip of the kanji in the evenings and no one is denied. Some take it home, in a vessel mostly a thooku chatti while others have a bowlful right there. Some also get a share from their Muslim neighbours and friends. All those who have tasted the Kanji, vouch by its amazing taste and flavour.
A serving of the steaming kanji is surely scrumptious, as the rice gruel is a rich concoction of a variety of aromatic spices and assorted vegetables.
“Ramzan is a month to share and donate. The Kanji enables a humble sharing as it facilitates people to donate and also enjoy the end product,” says A. Jaffar Ibrahim, the president of the Tahsildar Pallivasal, that cooks over 70kgs of rice and 700 litres of kanji everyday and feeds nearly 1,000 people from far and near. “For each day of the holy month, we have donors donating for generations,” says Jaffar. “It’s a family privilege to be a donor.”
At the 13th Century Kazi Syed Tajudeen Palli, popularly known as Kazimar Pallivasal, 50 kilograms of the kanji is served to more than 600 people everyday. S.A.K. Ibrahim, the trustee of the mosque is a descendent of the saints from Arabia to whom the site was gifted by the Pandya King 800 years ago. The Kanji of the Kazimar mosque is known for its flavours and the succulent mutton keema added in it. “The richer the donor, the richer the kanji,” says Ibrahim. “Some people add cashews and badams along with mutton pieces to make it even more delicious.” It costs Rs.20,000 a day to prepare 1,000 litres of kanji and pay the wages to cooks and workers, he informs.
Nagur Meeran, the cook at the 300-year-old Sungam Pallivasal on Pattaraikara Street, rustles up 1,600 litres of kanji in four huge cauldrons everyday during Ramzan. He starts cooking at 9 a.m. and wraps-up by 3 p.m. He says that Kanji cooks are traditionally biryani masters. “The kanji has the same flavour and taste of biryani and also a precise cooking method. The mixing of right amount of ingredients at the right time is important,” he says. The major ingredients that go into the Kanji are Moong dal, tomato, ginger, garlic, oil and ghee, raw rice, coconut, cashews and badam, mint and coriander leaves and a slew of spices.
The kanji also requires continuous stirring for hours to achieve proper consistency, else it may either get charred or remain half-cooked. At some places, the Kanji is tweaked for that tad difference in taste. It depends on the masters. For instance, Nagur Meeran’s recipe has a significant amount of cinnamon and cardamom that gives a strong tang to the kanji. “But kanji can never go wrong and that’s why you should not miss to take a sip,” says the cook.
Woman cook makes the nonbu kanji
The 25-year-old MSS Wakf Board Masjid on K.K.Nagar Main Road is unique in employing a woman cook for making the nonbu kanji. “Usually in mosques, the cooks are male members who make kanji for Ramzan. But ever since the inception of the mosque, we have had the same woman cook who has been rendering the service regularly. Among the major mosques of Madurai, she is the only woman cook,” says Dr. A. Sarpudeen, Professor of Chemistry at the Wakf Board College.
Since 1984, Paathu Muthu, a 70-year-old woman belonging to Sonavaram village in Sivagangai District cooks 40 kilos of kanji at the mosque and serves around 500 people every evening. “I learnt the recipe from a cook at Pattarakara Street,” says Paathu Muthu, who stays at her daughters’ houses in Madurai during Ramzan. Starting from 7 a.m., she and her daughters --Ayesha and Nafisa Beevi -- peel onions and garlic, wash vegetables, soak rice and set the chulha burning before starting to make the kanji. “Earlier we used to prepare only 10 kilos of kanji as the demand was much less and cooking was easier then,” recalls Paathu Muthu, whose recipe is praised by many at the mosque. She gets paid Rs.18,000 for the entire month.
The spirit of Ramzan
Reflecting the spirit of Ramzan, people from other communities also take part in the making and feeding of the kanji. Of the 30 donors at Tahsildar Pallivasal, one is a Hindu family contributing for the 15th day kanji. Called the Kaatha Nadar family, they have been doing it for generations.
Alagappan, a Hindu working at the office of Kazimar Pallivasal gets to taste the kanji piping hot everyday. “I also donate loose ingredients for its making and consider it an act of good will,” he says.
