It is time to end the fast with luscious dishes. Muslims across the country swear by taste of delicious sheer korma, seviyan, biriyani and other items cooked at their houses during the festival. These are the standard dishes that are hardly replaced with anything else at the Muslim households. But, the home chefs in Bhubaneswar don’t shy away from experimenting with their culinary skills so as to please the guests with something that they haven't had before. The City Express visited some of the Muslim households in Bhubaneswar to find out what’s cooking, this Eid?
When we walked into Shama Parween’s house in Jharpada, she was busy preparing a unique dessert for her guests: Chana dal ka halwa. Bored with sheer korma, Shama thought of trying her hands at something new and innovative. But, the recipe isn’t an easy one. It takes immense patience and experience to be able to make the perfect halwa with the yellow lentil. For Shama, it’s a cakewalk though. She shared her recipe with The City Express. “You need to soak the lentil for at least three to four hours and then starts the most difficult task. You need to cook it in milk. It has to be stirred frequently so that the mix doesn’t stick to the bottom of the vessel. Thereafter, cool it and make a fine paste of the cooked lentil using a mixer-grinder. The smooth paste will have to be fried in ghee over slow flame. The longer you keep it on the flame, the better it tastes. You must slow-cook it for three hours. You will have to garnish the halwa with loads of dry fruits,” said Shama. For the main course, Shama offers Chicken handi to her guests. “Chicken handi is my signature dish. Chicken is cooked in a thick gravy and loads of butter and cream is added to it. It tastes awesome with laccha partha or maida paratha. I usually serve this for breakfast when guests visit our place after offering the morning Namaaz,” she added. Biriyani in Shama’s kitchen gets the twist of potatoes and egg, similar to the ones found in Kolkata eateries and restaurants.
From Jharpada, we moved on to Sundarpada to visit the kitchen of Sijal Sayeed. Her dinner menu for eid is never devoid of biriyani and chicken or mutton korma. She also prepares pulao, veg biriyani, fried rice and any Chinese dish of chicken as well. She believes in mix and match. For desserts, she sticks to her roots and prepares a dish that she had in her village. “In rural areas, there’s a sweet rice dish called Zarda that’s popular. Fine-grade basmati rice is cooked with dry fruits, morabba and sugar. It is not kheer so milk is not added to the dish. The rice doesn’t get mashed as in kheer. It should not stick to the vessel containing it. You can add food colours, if you want,”she added.