Haleem season dawns in city

With just a few days to go before the start of Ramzan, Hyderabadis are already warming up to the delectable haleem. Several small joints across the city have already started serving the dish and people are seen digging into bowls of haleem.

Hoteliers have already started preparations during the day. It is cooked on a low flame of firewood for close to 12 hours in a brick and mud kiln which gives the paste a unique taste. Mahboob Ali, who has been making the dish for close to 15 years, says, “My ustad Rahman taught me how to make haleem.

Mutton, whole wheat, pure ghee, milk, lentils, ginger, garlic, turmeric, racked cumin seeds, cloves, dry fruits and a host of other spices are used. We make sure to pick the best spices.” Once the haleem is ready which in the final stage gets into a paste is topped with gravy, chopped coriander and fried onions.

Suleman, whose job is only to fry onions says, “If the onions are fried a little longer it may become bitter. We need to get the correct consistency or the effort goes waste.” Sarvi, Café Bahar and many eateries including Irani hotels have already started their signature dish.

With each passing year, the demand for haleem is rising multi-fold and several hoteliers have already started importing spices from Iran Haleem has today become the favourite dish for Hyderabadis but it was the soldiers in Barkas area who had come to serve the Nizam who first started savouring the dish.

GI Tag

Over the years Hyderabadi haleem has become synonymous with the city; so much so, Hyderabad is referred as haleem city after the iconic Charminar and pearls. The dish has its origins in West Asia but in Hyderabad it is cooked for several hours with an assortment of spices and lentils and was given the Geographic Indication (GI) tag in 2010. The dish has become a must have for all Hyderabadis and majority of Hindus too make a bee-line to the haleem centres.