Haleem at its Best

It was around 8’o clock in the evening and I was going through a city magazine, probably hunting some places where I could go for shopping this year. It was only a couple of minutes that I was into the magazine that an sms from my friend interrupted me. It said “Let us grab a haleem at Shah Ghouse”. To those wondering what ‘haleem’ is ….haleem, is a stew composed of meat, lentil and pounded wheat made into a thick paste. Blended with regional traditional spices, it formed a unique Hyderabadi haleem, becoming a popular food and is mostly prepared during the month of Ramzan.

Ramzan is probably the only month when people savour the dish. A battle is on every year to judge who stays at the top of the chart with Pista House, Paradise, Hy-Line, 555 café, City Light, Bahar, Sarvi, Niagra in addition to Shah Ghouse being the major players (possibly I could have missed some names here). Every joint has its own specialty and taste to offer. For example, the haleem served at Hy-Line is pretty lite and not too spicy. 

Quickly realizing that we had not tried the haleem there this year, we set off to Shah Ghouse Café. We crossed Pista House which is enroute to café and we were not surprised to see the Pista House guys standing right in front of the main joint, taking orders quickly to avoid congestion and traffic. Pista House like last year had setup its stalls at various places in the city for easy accessibility. And for those who don’t know, it is also going places i.e. you can now order a Pista House Haleem from anywhere in India (www.makemygiftz.com).  

So as we approached our destination, around 100 metres away from the café I started noticing these guys dressed in red, an army of them, scattered in small groups. On close observation I realized that these guys were from the café itself, selling boxes of haleem away from the main café in order to avoid traffic hassles and too much crowd which is quite eminent at Shah Ghouse. Finally, we ordered two plates and as usual it was a treat. The haleem was rich in content, the ingredients, the taste, everything perfect, worth a lot more than the hype that was created. Normally I don’t pick, but if I have to select the best, I would go for Pista House only because of the easy accessibility factor. Not to forget the other joints who are unique in their own way, because differentiation is important and we have our own tastes and preferences too.