Fasting, Feasting

yderabad has become synonymous with biriyani. But I believe a more worthy contender would be haleem. Prepared only during Ramzan, it’s a delicacy made from broken wheat, mutton, dal, ghee and aromatic spices, cooked together over a slow fire for eight hours (the word haleem itself signifies ‘patience’). The end result is that you don’t know where the meat ends and where the wheat begins; it has a rich, silky mouth-feel and simply slides down your throat, aided by a seasoning of browned onions, crushed pudina and a squeeze of lime. Hundreds of little eating joints in Hyderabad offer their own ‘special’ haleem, but none is more famous than Pista House.