by Sadia Dehlvi
During the rebellion phase of my teenage years, I confess I did not look forward to Ramzan for it meant adherence to a strict code of conduct. The radio was locked and the television was veiled with a cloth. We were told that the devil is locked and chained during Ramzan.Going to parties or a movie was out of the question. We were almost forced to engage in fast and ritual prayer. If not fasting, we still pretended to and ate discreetly behind closed doors. Amma said it was improper to eat in front of those who were fasting. The Ramzan routine then seemed like a tedious set of rules. I almost began to look forward to getting sick, using even the slightest toothache as an excuse to legitimately escape fasting!
However, on growing older and understanding the relevance of the sacred month, I began to value our childhood training. We were taught to treat Ramzan as a special blessed month.
Those days our iftaar dastarkhwan included varieties of sharbet, pakora, thick, golden coloured jalebi, dahi badey, qalmi badey, kachalu and dry chana dal. This was followed by an early, wholesome dinner. Iftaar continues to be a feast, but is far less elaborate than in the olden days. However, dahi badey, chana dal and kachalu are still on my dastarkhwan every evening.
Dahi Badey
Be it for iftaar, high tea or a dinner party, dahi badey are frequently served on the tables of Dilliwalas. Our dahi badey differ from the dahi vadas that are available in restaurants and chaat shops. We make dahi badey round and small whereas vadas are flatter and slightly larger.
Some Dilliwalas make dahi badey with just split green gram, dhuli moong dal, while some mix it with split black gram, urad dal, also called safed maash. Like most in my family, I use a mixture of both these dal. The measure below should make at least 20 to 25 lemon-sized dahi badey.
¼ cup urad dal (safed maash)
¼ cup dhuli moong dal
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
A good way to ensure that the dahi badey are soft is to soak both dals together overnight or at least for a few hours. The second step is to blend them to a thick paste in a mixer. Do not use extra water to blend as it will turn too watery. There is a trick to making the perfect dahi badey. After blending dal in the mixer, continue to whisk the mixture with a regular or electric eggbeater till it almost doubles.
Add salt, baking soda and baking powder to the whisked batter. Drop a tablespoon from the batter into piping hot oil. Flip the badey around and deep fry them till they acquire a golden hue. Place them on paper towels to soak excess oil.
Just before serving, soak the badey in lukewarm water for a few minutes. Squeeze the badey softly to drain out water. Now, take beaten curd and add a little salt to it. You could also add a teaspoon of sugar. Now add the badey to the curd. Sprinkle the dish with chaat masala. I add a sprinkling of red chilli powder to give it an appetizing colour and garnish with fresh chopped coriander leaves.
Chaat Masala
By themselves, dahi badey are bland and need a sprinkling of a tasty masala. Most readymade chaat masalas are not up to the mark. It is better to make the masala at home. During the good old days of Shama Kothi, the chaat masala came from a woman who lived in Ballimaran. She was referred to as Chotey ki Ma, and the masala came to be called budihya ka masala. Before the old woman died, she gave the secret formula to her daughter-in-law. The masala continued to come home for many years until the texture and quality dropped. Apparently, the daughter-in-law began to use a mixer instead of hand-pounding the masalas. This changed the coarse texture of the masala to a fine powder. At some point in our lives, the masala disappeared from our table. My hunt for the perfect chaat masala continues. My cousin Ainee gave me this masala recipe, which is the closest to the one made by Chotey ki Ma.
125-150 gm red chillies (whole)
125 gm coriander seeds (whole)
75 gm cumin seeds
A few tsps of black salt (kala namak)
Roast the red chillies lightly over a tava. Don’t let them turn too dark. Roast the coriander seeds and cumin seeds separately. Grind all three ingredients together in a mixer and add kala namak. Do not grind to a fine powder, leave the masala a little coarse. If you find it too spicy, then roast some more cumin seeds and coriander seeds and add to the mixture in equal proportion.
Qalmi Badey
1 cup chana dal, soaked overnight
1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped
6 peppercorns, coarsely ground
1 tsp coarse red chilli powder (kutti lal mirch)
Salt to taste
Oil for frying
Drain the water from the soaked dal. Ideally, the dal should be ground on a sil. If grinding in the mixer, use just a few drops of water. Add the chilli powder, onion, peppercorns and salt to the dal. Make large balls with it, almost the size of a tennis ball and deep-fry them to a golden brown colour. Once cooled, slice them into ¼" pieces and deep fry again to a dark brown. Drain excess oil on a paper towel and sprinkle the badey with a little chaat masala. Serve with fresh green chutney.
Qeemay ki Goliyan – Mince Pakora
250 gm mincemeat
½ cup gram flour (besan)
2 green chillies, finely chopped
1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp coriander seeds, lightly crushed
1 tsp garlic paste
½ tsp garam masala
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp red chilli powder
Few fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Salt to taste
Oil for frying
Mix the mincemeat with all the ingredients except for the baking soda and marinate for an hour or two. Just before frying, add the baking soda. Make balls, smaller than a lemon, and deep fry. Place on a paper towel to drain excess oil. Serve with fresh green chutney.
Khajla being sold in the old city
Photo: Mayank Austen Soofi
Pheniyan being fried for Ramzan in Ballimaran
Photo: Vaseem Ahmed Dehlvi
Kachalu – Fruit Chaat
Bananas
Guavas
Papaya
Apples
Pineapple
Oranges
Other fruits
Kachalu is what we Dilliwalas call our version of fruit chaat. Kachalu always has bananas and papaya as they are available all through the year. Following the lunar calendar, Ramzan moves through the seasons. So, whichever seasonal fruit is available goes into kachalu; be it pineapple, grapes, guavas, apples, mangoes, oranges or pears. The fruits are cut into small pieces and mixed together with lime juice, a little sugar and chaat masala. Kachalu is mostly reserved for Ramzan.
Pakoras for iftaar
Dry Chana Dal – Lentil Snack
250 gm chana dal, boiled
4 medium-sized onions, finely chopped
½-1 tsp red chilli powder
5-6 green chillies, finely chopped
Fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Lime juice
Chaat masala
Salt to taste
Chana dal is ideally soaked in water for a few hours before cooking. If not, use a pressure cooker for one whistle. Boil dal in water with red chilli powder and salt. Do not add too much water as the dal should be dry and remain whole. When it is cooked, add onions, coriander leaves, green chillies, lime juice and chaat masala.
Sevaiyan being sold in the old city
Eid
Eid ul Fitr is the major annual Muslim festival. The excitement at Shama Kothi on chaand raat, the night before Eid, is a treasured childhood memory. At sunset, we rushed to the terrace to sight the Eid moon. On sighting we greeted each other with ‘chand mubarak’ and folded our hands in prayer while gazing at the new moon. When it could not be seen, we waited patiently for the formal announcement from Jama Masjid.
The elders then busied themselves planning the Eid feast. We girls became occupied with choori mehndi, bangles and henna. The iconic Babu Churiwala’s shop in Ballimaran was our favourite store for b
angles. An engaging old man, the talkative Babu spoke in the typical old city dialect and seemed to know everyone by name! We also bought new footwear from Ballimaran.
On returning from the crowded and colourful Eid bazaar, Apa Saeeda applied mehndi on our hands. She made simple patterns, mostly something called bataq. This swan-like pattern was formed by placing a thick henna strip in the middle of the palm and then closing the fist. Intricate henna patterns became popular decades later. While we moved around with our hands closed, Apa Saeeda would sew the gota, bling edgings, on our clothes. Wearing new clothes and new footwear are Eid traditions. Even today, the old city shops selling clothes, footwear and food remain open almost all through chaand raat.
On Eid, children are given Eidi, gift money, from the elders. In the morning, while the women of the house scrambled around getting lunch ready, we kids went about collecting Eidi. Family elders usually kept envelopes filled with crisp new notes ready. Since ours was a joint family, we collected quite a lot of money. We went to the neighbourhood stall to buy chocolates and flavoured milk from Keventers, the then famous dairy product factory which was close by.
The next day we visited relatives who lived in other areas. At Shama Kothi, there were long queues to collect Eidi. Workers from the telephone, post and telegraph department, tailors, office staff and others lined up at the porch. Abba made sure that no one went away empty handed.
In those days, Eid was an elaborate affair with dozens of guests coming in and out. The elders had their friends visiting and we had ours, so much so that Eid lunch would almost turn into dinner. With the ancestral home gone, Eid is no longer the same. My cousins now live in different corners of the city. Given the distances and traffic, we rarely get to meet. We message or greet one another on the phone, but it’s just not the same as gale milna, that special Eid hug.
Barring Ammi and Daddy, most of the elders who gave me Eidi have passed on to the next world. Life comes full circle and now it is mostly me giving Eidi. I maintain the family tradition of keeping an open house on Eid. My parents, brothers, nephews and countless friends come over for lunch. Although I live in a flat, we manage to host a fairly largle number of guests.
Sabir, whom I have trained over the years, helps in the cooking. We begin our preparations a day earlier and manage to serve four or five main dishes. It’s an informal lunch, with guests dropping in all through the day. Since cooking begins at seven in the morning, I feel totally exhausted by the evening. Sometimes, I go to a friend’s home for Eid dinner, but am usually too tired to venture out anywhere.
Sevaiyan
Eid ul Fitr is associated with sevaiyan, which is prepared early morning in large quantities. It’s one of the few dishes that my mother makes really well and cooks it for us every Eid. It is prepared in many ways. A popular dry variety of sevaiyan is called Muzafar. We mostly make sevaiyan in milk that is called sheer khurma.
200-250 gm sevaiyan
2 litre milk
100 gm sweetened condensed milk (optional)
5-6 green cardamoms
4 tbsp desi ghee
½ tsp kewra water
1 cup sugar or to taste
A few almonds, finely sliced
A few pistachios, finely sliced
A few raisins
Dried dates, finely sliced (chuarey)
A little desiccated coconut
Few strands of saffron soaked in milk (optional)
Heat milk to a boiling point and then lower the flame. Cook the milk till it reduces to almost half the original quantity. Meanwhile, heat desi ghee and add crushed cardamoms and allow them to crackle. Now handcrush the sevaiyan into tiny pieces. Add these to the ghee and keep stirring for a few minutes. Make sure that the flame is kept at a minimum so the sevaiyan don’t burn. They should be slightly browned. Then add sevaiyan to the milk and leave uncovered on low flame for almost an hour.
When the sevaiyan are almost done, add sugar. Cook for another 5 to 10 minutes till it thickens to the right consistency. If you add the sugar earlier, the sevaiyan may burn. Now add kewra water and if you are using saffron, this is the time to add it.
Allow the sevaiyan to cool before adding the condensed milk. Lastly, add raisins, dates, slivers of almond, pistachios and dessicated coconut. Serve hot or cold, depending on the season.
Condensed milk is not used in traditional recipes, but it’s a good trick that works. If not adding sweetened condensed milk, then increase the quantity of sugar.
Before slicing the almonds, it is best to soak them overnight so they peel easily. Chuarey are also best soaked overnight so they can be easily sliced. We call these slivers of almonds and other dried fruits havaiyaan.
Eid al Azha
Eid al Azha is popularly known as Baqra Eid. At Shama Kothi, a truckload of about twenty goats would arrive two or three days before Eid. The healthiest goat was sacrificed for the sake of Prophet Muhammad . There was one sacrificial goat for every adult member of the house and a few on behalf of some departed elders.
As soon as the goats arrived, we kids chose a goat each to befriend. We fed the goats and played with them in the gardens. These goats grazed in a large kucha part of the house near the kitchen. The qurbani, sacrifice, took place in this area which was mostly used for cooking during weddings. Professional cooks were hired and their requirements provided to them. The tandoor would be dug in this ground so fresh roti could be made. The open area had rows of papaya trees. These are commonly planted in Muslim homes as papaya is used for marinating meat.
On Eid morning, the butchers arrived early, just as the men of the house returned from Idgah, where the congregational prayer is held. My father, uncles, brother and cousin brothers would do the qurbani, churi pherna, as it is called. They put the knife to the jugular of the goat, and left the rest to the butcher as is the custom. The sacrifice can be done over three days. With the vast number of goats, it was not possible to sacrifice them in a single day. The meat had to be distributed, which was a time-consuming process. The kitchen and its surrounding areas were filled with meat for those three days. With help from the staff, my mother and aunts made packets of meat for distribution. Traditionally, one-third of the sacrificial meat is given to the poor, one-third to friends and relatives and the family keeps the remaining portion.
As children, we were disturbed by the unsettling sight of the goats being slaughtered. I often locked myself in my room. Once a few school friends who visited me on Eid al Azha became upset by the sacrificial scenes. From then on, I never invited any friends on this Eid! Now that I live in a flat, it is just not possible to have qurbani at home, so the sacrifice is done elsewhere.
As a young girl, the idea of meals with sacrificial meat bothered me. However, the elders insisted that one should at least taste a small portion from it as partaking from the qurbani meat is a sunnah, tradition of Prophet Muhammad . Apa Saeeda and the elders would remind us of Prophet Abraham’s story.
Eid al Azha marks the culmination of the Hajj pilgrimage. It is the day that Muslims around the world join the millions of pilgrims in their joy and thanksgiving to Allah. Hajj, which is making the pilgrimage to the House of Allah in Mecca if one is able, is one of the five pillars of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, Prophet Adam built the Kaaba at Mecca. It is believed that the Kaaba was damaged in floods during the time of Prophet Noah. Later, the Kaaba was rebuilt by Prophet Abraham.
When Prophet Abraham completed the reconstruction of the Kaaba, he had a dream where God asked him to sacrifice Ishmael, his son. The Quran affirms the dreams of Prophets to be true. On hearing God’s command, Ishmael did not flinch and told his father that he was willing to be sacrificed. As Abraham readied for the ultimate sacrifice and placed a knife on his son, Allah called to him: ‘O Abraham, you have fulfilled the dream! Thus, do We reward the good doers! That was a clear test.’ A ram was sent down from heaven to be sacrificed instead of Ishmael.
It is this spirit of complete submission to God that is celebrated on E
id al Azha. Muslims who can afford it sacrifice a sheep, goat or other prescribed animals. The Quran says, ‘It is not their meat nor their blood that reaches Allah; it is your piety that reaches Him.’
At Shama Kothi, Eid al Azha was usually a family affair. Lunch always included mutton stew, yakhni pulao and kaleji, liver. Since sacrificial meat is from healthier and older goats, it takes longer than tender mutton to cook. This meat has a high content of fat, which is why very little or no oil is required.
Raan Musallam is an Eid must, but since it requires at least two days of marinating, it is mostly served on the third day. Eid festivities typically last for three days. Ameena Auntie always made the raan and this is her recipe. If you want the whole leg of goat, I suggest placing a prior request with the meat shop.
Raan Musallam
1½-2 kg raan
2-3 lemons
6-8 cloves
½ cup oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Use a fork or sharp knife to prick the leg all over. You could also make small incisions for the marination to go deep. Marinate with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Refrigerate for two days.
Use a large cooking utensil that takes the whole leg comfortably. Heat oil and add cloves. After a minute or two, add the raan and leave on low flame for about an hour till the meat is tender. Add a little water if required to keep it from burning. Serve with a carving knife. We called this hunter meat. Sandwiches made with strips of the raan are delicious.