Haleem

In the revered platter of Biryani, Chaap and Kebab, we often undermine the importance of Haleem, the heavenly touch that makes the holy month of Ramadan complete. Over the years, Haleem has transcended the boundaries of being a quintessential Iftar delicacy, into becoming an exemplary achievement of authentic Muslim cuisine of global proportions. The word ‘Haleem’ literally stands for patience, and rightly so, as it takes seven to eight hours, or an entire night to cook in brick and mud ovens called ‘bhattis’. It is slow cooked on firewood, in order to be prepared in an authentic way. This involves continuous and vigorous stirring and beating with a pestle or wooden waddle to blend in the ingredients to achieve a sludge-like consistency.

The origins of Haleem can be found in the Arabic cuisine Harees, a sumptuous feast admired by the Caliphs, Kings and the nobility. The preparation of the Harees or Harisa, a thick slurry of wheat and meat, can be traced back to the 10th-century Arabic text Kitab al-Tabikh. The dish also finds recognisable mentions in the Ain-i-Akbari of the 16th century. Moreover, various travelogues by Ibn Battuta mention the traditional Persian custom of serving Harisa (Haleem), made of flesh, wheat and ghee, to every visitor.

Historical records further indicate a rather interesting journey of how the Middle-Eastern Harisa ended up in the Indian subcontinent. Some historians contend that Haleem was introduced in the country by Humayun and reached mass popularisation during Akbar. It is enticing to learn that this Arabic dish found its way to the royal menu of the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad, Mehbub Ali Khan, in the culinary repertoire of the Arabic travellers and soldiers in the Nizams’ army. Haleem was rewarded with the position of a traditional Hyderabadi cuisine by the seventh Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan, and then significantly promoted by Saif Nawaz Jung Bahadur. Stories indicate that this chief from Hadhramuth (now Yemen) and a noble to the court of the Nizam served pots of sumptuous Haleem at all the events he hosted. Once popular in India, the traditional wheat, meat and ghee of the Haleem got infused with local spices, barley, lentils and toppings, lending it the aromatic and culinary form we are familiar with today.

Though traditional Haleem used meat, modern alternatives include shredded chicken. To make the dish accessible to all, vegetarian counterparts have evolved which use vegetables and dried fruits instead of meat. A sweet variant of this dish called ‘Meethi Harees’ has been served in the Barkas area for more than 50 years now. However, in 2010, the Hyderabadi Haleem became the first non-vegetarian dish to garner the Geographical Indication status by the Indian GI registry office, making it extra significant compared to its modern alternatives.