In pictures: Haleem, a Ramadan staple

HYDERABAD - INDIA - 01AUG 2012 - Workers smashing the meat with spices to prepare Haleem at Pista House Haleem, which received a geographical indicator trademark for its haleem, a dish of meat and lentils that it makes particularly during Ramadan on Charminar road in Old Hyderabad City in Andhra Pradesh State in India. The haleem prepared here is so popular that it is even sent out by post, in response to orders received from across India. Ravindranath K / The National (to go with Samanth story on Ramadan)

Haleem, a stew of mutton, lentils and wheat that originated in Persia, has been a Hyderabad staple for decades, its flavours indigenised by Indian spices. But over the last decade, its role as part of Iftar has boomed.

During Ramadan, Pista House, which bills itself as the largest haleem seller in the world, sells up to 10 tons of haleem every day. “When I joined in 1997, when Pista House opened, we’d sell maybe 400kg in a month,� Moin Khan, Pista House’s main c???

heavy.�The popularity of Hyderabad’s haleem has spread outside the city – a trend driven, in no small measure, by Pista House’s energetic owner MA Majeed. In addition to selling haleem in more than 200 kiosks across Hyderabad, “we do daily home ???

For 11 months out of the year, Pista House functions as a typical old-style Hyderabad eatery, serving platefuls of biryani. In Ramadan, though, all biryani production stops for haleem.

The courier company, Gati, ships up to 12kg of haleem a day. Pista House’s 325g packs of haleem cost 95 rupees (Dh6.25); its family pack, a 1.3kg tub serving four people, costs 430 rupees.

To cope with demand, Pista House rents additional premises nearby during Ramadan: a large, tin-roofed wedding hall, where dozens of sacks of wheat and a flour mill sit in one corner. In the kitchen, 20 deghs – massive copper pots – perch on wood fires???

In 2009, Mr. Majeed applied for a Geographical Indication (GI) tag for Hyderabad’s haleem. A GI tag, as enacted by the World Trade Organisation, protects products that are unique to a certain geography. In India, Darjeeling tea has a GI tag, as do the j???

The haleem prepared here is so popular that it is even sent out by post, in response to orders received from across India.

Customers buy Haleem at Paradise Food Court in Secunderabad.

“In Hyderabad, haleem is a great Indian variation of a dish that came in from overseas. We should be proud of that. It’s just so good,� said Mr Majeed.