A waft of aroma reaches you as you come to a stop in the quiet residential neighbourhood of Aziz Bagh in old city. Unknown to many, nestled here in the bylanes is the small home run business of Nasreen Hussaini and her mother-in-law who are one of the few people left in the city making Nizami sweets for over 40 years now.
A recipe handed down over generations, Badam Ki Jali, Ashrafi among other Nizami sweets are their specialities. For the initiated, the two sweets are made from a mixture of almond paste and sugar, more commonly known as marzipan. Very popular during the reign of Nizam, the sweets are used in special occasions like family functions, weddings and so on. “The recipe was given to me by my mother-in-law who learnt it from her mother-in-law who had came to Hyderabad after her marriage. Since then, the recipe has remained unchanged mostly with a few minor tweaks,” shares Nasreen who says that they don’t use milk or eggs in their recipe.
The day starts early for Nasreen and her mother-in-law who supervise the eight workers they have working for them. “We start by peeling the almonds which have been soaked overnight and then grind them to a paste. This is then mixed with sugar in a pan and cooked for sometime until we have a thick gooey mixture,” reveals Nasreen. The mixture is then made into round balls which are then flattened using a rolling pin with a liberal dusting of powdered sugar. Later on, a worker uses a biscuit cutter to get it into the desired shape which is then garnished with a warq (silver foil). “The Ashrafi has a similar recipe only the mixture is placed between two special gold coins which have a inscription of the Nizam. The sides are cut and smoothened,” states Nasreen who goes on to add that the Ashrafi were special gold coins issued by the Nizam of Hyderabad. Though only known to a few previously, the family’s venture is now slowly gaining traction thanks to their social media savvy son, Ali Hussaini who manages the Facebook page for them. “We wanted to spread the word out to a lot more people about these sweets.
Now we get orders from as far as USA, UAE in addition to orders from different cities in India like Mumbai, Delhi. The best part is the sweets last for a long time so people order in bulk which are then used for gifting purposes,” comments Ali. The prices for the sweets vary according to the ingredients used, a cashew based jali will cost you `600 per kg while the almond based one is priced at `900 per kg which are home delivered by them if required.
Details: www.facebook.com/Badam-Ki-Jali Contact: 93464 12288 or 98852 23396