Royal Hyderabadi treat for guests at Rais’ iftaar

CHANDIGARH ROAD: Saturday’s iftaar was an occasion for cousins Rais Khan and Abdul Hafiz Khan, both chemical engineers, to break their fast together along with their families at the Rais residence in Sector 32, Chandigarh Road.
And the ‘Hyderabadi biryani’ cooked by Rais’ wife Zareena Begum added a south Indian flavour to their dinner and left the guests licking their fingers.
Rais, who came to Ludhiana 20 years ago from Faridabad, fasts with his family—wife Zareena, 12-year-old son Aqib and 20-year-old daughter Sajda. “All of us observe ‘roza’ during Ramzan and break our fast together. The iftaar becomes all the more pious when guests like Abdul join us,” said Rais.
He said his family waits for the holy month of Ramzan eagerly as this is the time to earn blessings and purify ones soul. “At iftaar, we normally have dates and a lot of fruits and juices apart from some home made snacks like ‘pakodas’,” Rais added.
His cousin Abdul Hafiz attended Rais’ iftaar with his wife Karieman Begum and son Sartaj. The two families broke their fast together, offered evening prayers and sat down for a sumptuous dinner. “My wife cooked ‘Hyderabadi biryani’, chicken ‘korma’ and ‘keema’ for dinner,” said Rais.
His wife Zareena added, “I learned to cook ‘Hyderabadi biryani’ in Delhi a few years ago and love to serve it to my family and guests on special occasions like iftaar. Besides, chicken ‘korma’ and ‘keema’ is cooked at our home almost daily during Ramzan. I also made a ‘chutney’ of mint, tomatoes and curd.”
Abdul Hafiz said he was touched by his cousin’s hospitality. “Inviting others to break fast during iftaar is considered one of the best deeds and Rais even feeds poor people during Ramzan, which is a great deed on his part,” he added.