Flavour of haleem… in words

Haleem is not some roadside food to be eaten and the bones and spices spat out. No. If you are a Hyderabadi it is a love affair to remember, to wait, to drool, to savour, to Twitter notes, to make your Facebook pals envious (one of whom says:

kanisam tinali anukunna tinaleni postion ra naku ikkkada dorakadu, and another bloke says: yaad mat dilao bhai raha nahi jata) and, okay, to worry about the money part (nearly Rs. 2000 if a person eats daily).

But making haleem is no rocket science. Housewives with their hand-me-down secret recipes cook up better stuff than the men swirling the gooey stuff in huge cauldrons. But then you cannot persuade ammis and aunties to make haleem everyday and that’s why we rush to neighbourhood haleemwallahs.

That brings in the twist in this year’s haleem’s tale. With almost all the haleems tasting the same, redolent of the same sweet buttery smell, similar smoky flavour (okay one has a hint of rose petals, another pudina, another of saffron and yet another of curry) what do the haleemwallahs do? They resort to marketing their product with words.

Here is a fun trip through the haleem-land of Hyderabad with the wordsmiths in charge and not the chefs. Near Charminar is: Zayeqe daar Turkey haleem. “Turkey as in the country and not the bird. They put tarkari (vegetables) in the haleem, we stick to the Turkish formula of meat, wheat, dry fruits and spices,” says Abid applying warq to the cauldron.

At MG Road if one restaurant prides itself for getting the spices and nuts from Iran another throws a gauntlet about getting the dish tested for its purity and the meat used. City Light is selling what it calls Mashhad Haleem. “Mashhad is a place in Iran and this haleem is a speciality of the place. The spices and the dry fruits that go into this haleem are also from Iran,” says Syed Husain.

After taking Rs. 80 he gives a token and then you get a Styrofoam bowl with what looks like haleem but with a white creamy topping, pudina leaves and as you dig in there are dices of apricots, pistachios and almonds. Blander, but then it is also a haleem. To each his own it seems as across the road is Lamcy which is selling mushroom haleem, fish haleem, paneer haleem and of course the mutton haleem.

In Nacharam where about seven haleem sellers have made their appearance, there is one bloke who promises haleem made with skin-less chicken. The Bahadurpura-Chandulal Baradari-Shahalibanda stretch is chock-a-block with the haleem/harees sellers the pick is surely the one where Aamir Khan in his Ghajni avatar is shown as if he is hugging the rooster.

Even if there is a joint that sells beef haleem near Rama theatre in Bahadurpura, the photograph is that of a crowing rooster. Arbi Haleem/Deccani Haleem/Turkey Haleem/Irani Haleem take your pick. Potli masala, Irani masala, Turkey masala and the spiel keeps spinning.

Incidentally, potla meat and potli masala are two different things. Potla meat should ideally come from lambs that live in the countryside and are not grown in farms (tough luck to get enough of them) and if a haleem is made with potli masala then all the pieces of cinnamon, pepper and cloves should not make an appearance in your bowl of joy. And that would be something. Like all good or bad advertisements the hyperbole makes you wonder about the real nature of haleem. Or like this ad says: ‘Shyam, Samuel ya Saleem sab ki pasand haleem.’

SERISH NANISETTI

Monday, Aug 31, 2009, Metroplus