Ramzan brings along with it the numerous ‘Talan’ centres, a term used to refer to fried snacks across the city. During the month of Ramzan these stalls come up and sum up the ‘iftari’ menu of Rozadars.
The gastronomic snacks such as besan mirchi, aalo bhajia, aalo bonda, mash ka bhajia, pakodas and a few other snacks including the popular ‘ dahi vada’ are a hit even in the era of burgers and pizzas. “There is no let up in our business, we are happy with the public turnout,” says Syed Samiuddin, a snacks stall owner at Golconda. In fact, attracted by the good public response, many more stalls have come up this year.
Despite the fact that these hold no significance with fasting, it has been a tradition in city households to have it during the time of ‘iftar’. “The practice has developed over a period of time. In the past, women would prepare these at homes and we did not find many talan centres,” says Mohammed Qasim, a hotelier.
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The mushrooming talan centres has impacted retail traders with many preferring to buy ‘basen’ products from outside. Minhajuddin, a kirana store owner from Falaknuma says, “It is not the same earlier when people used to purchase ‘basen’ regularly in the month of Ramzan.”
High prices fail to deter ‘rozadars’. Though a plate of ‘basen mirchi’ is priced around Rs.12 , it still finds many takers. Same is the case with other ‘basen’ items.
In fact, the ‘talaan’ stalls owners are now distributing pamphlets to promote their business. One can find numerous stalls mostly close to mosques at Mallepally, Golconda, Hasmathpet, Musheerabad, Chandrayangutta, Misrigunj, Mahboob Chowk.
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Of late ‘tiffins’ like dosa, idly and vada find takers during the early mornings. A few kiosks near Charminar cater to crowds during pre-dawn meal hours.