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THERELUCTANT GOURMET

High on haleem

Photo: Mohammed Yousuf

FIT FOR A KING Haleem garnished with crisp onions

It’s so delightfully retro-chic. Like a page out of an old-fashioned luridly-coloured Tinkle comic, showing a feast being prepared for plump bejewelled kings.

There is a crackling bonfire. Over it, two startlingly hefty dekchis — traditionally used for cooking huge quantities — bubbling beside each other like a pair of old gossips. Bowls of bright spices throw out warring aromas. And weaving through it all, there’s the delicious smell of freshly ground garlic and ginger.

Traditional foods that make their appearance once a year always have a rather dramatic, and joyous quality, about them. Right now, it’s the season for haleem. In Hyderabad, haleem capital of the country, the old city’s converted into a stunningly colourful open air kitchen, thick with aromas as bright as the glass bangles it’s famous for.

A porridge made, traditionally, with wheat and mutton, haleem has many recipes, depending on who is doing the cooking and where. It’s become increasingly popular over the past decade.

In homes it’s a thinner, lighter porridge that sometimes includes lentils. There are cooks who make it with chicken. And cooks who mix different meats into it. There’s even a vegetarian version, made with fresh vegetables and dry fruits, which was started by Hyderabad-based Pista House, possibly the product’s most savvy marketers. (They are currently couriering haleem across the country in association with gati.com)

At Fisherman’s Fare in Chennai, seasoned Hyderabadi cooks Fiyaz and Munir guide me through the whole four-hour process. Involving mindboggling quantities and an alarming amount of stirring, blending and pounding, the process is fascinating. Especially when you don’t have to do any actual work, like me. Otherwise, it’s an exhausting, thorough workout. Which explains their muscles. And their cheerful giggles as they tip in bowl after bowl of gorgeous asli ghee.

Rich and nourishing, haleem is a perfect meal if you’ve been fasting all day for Ramzan.

It’s got rawa, soaked for hours and then cooked in huge 60-litre dekchi over a fire, which spits and crackles inside a specially made brick oven. An intensely aromatic collection of spices go in with it, including turmeric, dry ginger, jeera, ground green chillies and the quaint distinctive ‘kabab cheeni,’ which smells, and tastes, like a mix between pepper and cinnamon. Munir sits cross legged, right over the oven, blending the concoction with a ladle that’s almost as big as he is, and gradually adding generous cupfuls of milk. Meanwhile Fiyaz cooks the mutton over a slow open fire, stirring it gently with patient regularity. The mutton needs to become tender enough to fall off the bone.

Finally, the meat’s added to the now-rich and creamy rawa mixture, and they are fiercely pounded together till they reach a consistency of a velvety paste. Then, comes the ghee.

Every day, the duo makes about 70 litres of haleem, serving about 350 people. That’s 10 kgs of rava, to 25 kgs of mutton and three litres of ghee. Think that’s huge? Asif Ali Khan, who owns Arabian Nights, a Hyderabad restaurant that has been making haleem for 16 years, says they sell about 500 kilos of it a day. He adds that although there is a sweet haleem, made with milk, sugar and – yes – mutton, it’s far less popular than the original version.

Haleem probably originated from Persia, says Abid Sait who owns Fisherman’s Fare. He says it’s eaten in different forms in other places too. In Lucknow, they add more lentils. And in Saudi Arabia, they call it hareesh and cut down on the spice levels.

The best way to eat it? Pile on the crisp, golden fried onions, take a liberal pinch of fresh, fragrant mint and coriander and toss in some crisp cashew nuts. Then add a splash of fresh lime. Tangy, smooth, rich. There’s nothing quite like it.

In Chennai, haleem is available at Fisherman’s Fare in Egmore from 4 p.m. everyday. Call 42068776/28194840 for details.

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