Get all Nizam’s delicacies here

Rahmat Ali, a customer saunters into Hameedi at Mozamjahi market and picks up three kilos of Jauzi halwa that he would take to Dubai. “I come to Hyderabad every six months and I have to take back the Jauzi halwa for friends and family,” he says. A ritual that is going on ever since he took up a job in Dubai eight years ago.

So what makes the Jauzi so special? It is a halwa made out of a spice from Turkey and it is prepared only at Hameedi in the city. The story goes that Mohammed Husain started the shop about 110 years ago in the very place and the word spread fast about Jauzi. The then Nizam too tasted it and liked it a lot. The VII Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan’s father-in-law’s name was Addul Hameed and he advised the owner to name the shop after him. There is also a photo in the shop that proudly displays the letter issued by the Nizam with the photo of the founder, Mohammed Husain by the side.

The third generation member of the family, Amees-ul- Husain who is presently taking forward the legacy says, “Jauzi is a Turkish fruit. In earlier times we would get it from Turkey but now we source it from Afghanistan.” Apart from the Jauzi halwa, there are other delicacies too that are famous such as badam halwa, Akbari halwa (made from Natralu fruit), Puran Puli, Buna huva Peda, Halwa Soan tikiya and ladoo. Amees says, “We have people coming from faraway places for the Jauzi halwa but our ladoo too is very famous and during Ganesh festival we sell about 500 kilos a week.”

What is surprising is the fact that no one else tried to make the delicacy, Hameedi are the only ones in the city who prepare the speciality that contains Jauzi, pure ghee, milk and saffron and like all special dishes it is cooked for hours before it takes a golden brown colour. “We have people from different states too coming to us. Many old Hyderabadis who settled in the Middle –East and in European countries make it a point to come to our shop when in the city. The Jauzi halwa is fit for kings,” says Amees.