New Arabic flavours give fresh twist to Ramzan delicacies this season

Hyderabad: Ramzan, the Muslim month of fasting, has been witnessing a change in the Hyderabadi palate preferences over the past few years. Continuing the trend, this Ramzan, at least half a dozen novel and exotic dishes have made their entry into Hyderabadi cuisine. While the food recipes associated with the Prophet were introduced during the last Ramzan, this season has witnessed the entry of several Arabic dishes into the city's cuisine. In fact, even most of the existing dishes in Hyderabadi cuisine originated outside the city, but they got the much-needed tweaks to appeal to the local palate.The latest additions to the series of exotic foods set to become part of the city's cuisine include ‘majbosa' or ‘majboos', ‘khamia', ‘aseed', and ‘fatah'. Interestingly, all these are from the Arab world. Local recipes such as Hyderabadi haleem too underwent further tweaks this year to produce ‘dum ki haleem', ‘haleem shots' and ‘sabit gehun ki haleem' (made from unbroken or whole wheat grains). Date pickle is also gaining popularity even as frozen rutab (ripe) dates, normally found in Saudi Arabia, made their commercial debut in the city this Ramzan.Turkish and Afghan iftars have also become common as the Hyderabadis are increasingly seeking a change in their routine menu. The new dishes introduced this year on a commercial level may not be as popular as their counterparts introduced earlier, like ‘mandi', ‘kabsa laham' and ‘shawarma', but according to those in the street food business, they are liked by most of those who tasted them for the first time. A few enterprising eateries located at Tolichowki, Jahnuma, Charminar, Chandrayangutta and Barkas have introduced new cuisines on an experimental basis."Hyderabadis are experimenting with new foods," says food connoisseur B Moinuddin, adding that most of the new foods introduced in the last one decade have become quite popular. "Foods like mandi, kabsa and shawarma, which were not known to Hyderabadis a decade or two earlier, are in fact threatening to overtake biryani. Many Hyderabadis want a change in the menu," points out Moinuddin, explaining why Arabic foods in this Ramzan season are so popular.Frozen rutab dates, for instance, were available only in the Arab world, especially in Mecca and Madina. They are quite popular among Haj and Umrah pilgrims. They were introduced in Mumbai and parts of India a few years ago. This year, the rutab dates have taken the city by storm with an 800-gram box selling for anything upward of Rs 600. Arabic dishes, particularly Yamani foods, like savoury fatah (pieces of flat bread and meat broth) and sweet fatah (banana and dates) are available in roadside eateries in Barkas Salala. Interestingly, Fah Desserts, managed by a youngster, has also introduced baklava seashells, a Turkish delight.Hamia or hamsa is a Persian Gulf stew made of either lamb or chicken. ‘Majboos' is a one-pot rice dish with meat (chicken and lamb), particularly from Bahrain. Khamia is a Saudi dessert made of milk, ghee, sugar and bread. ‘Aseed' is a Yemani dish made of wheat flour and eaten with lamb broth.Abdullah Bamuqdad, who runs a hummus eatery, has introduced a variety of Arabic dishes this time, including ‘Majboos' and donuts for Iftar. "The response has been good, and we will sell these and more items next year," he says, adding that the young generation in the city are looking for new foods thanks to social media, which is popularising cuisines from around the world. Though Hyderabadi haleem is a heavily beaten thick stew, some enterprising eateries have introduced unbroken whole wheat grain haleem, providing the al dente touch to this famous Ramzan dish in Hyderabad.