First Blood

Its the month of Ramadan and Hyderabadi Muzalmans get holy and observe their fasting regime. The whole city gets lively in the nights with Haleem sold at every nook and corner. People pour into Haleem shops after their evening prayers and break their fast.

Haleem is a traditional delicacy made of goat meat, wheat and other grains and spices. It is typically used to break the fast in the evening to provide one with fullsome meal and also provide the much needed energy. But the very taste of Haleem attracts people from other beliefs to have a go at it in the evenings and at late nights. It is served with some gravy on top with a piece of lemon.

These days Haleem is available customized for non vegetarians in the form of Chicken Haleem and Vegetable Haleem for those who don't eat goat or meat at all. But then if you ask hardcore Nonvegetarians who've tasted both they'll tell you there isn't any punch in having customized versions. If you having one of them , then its a compromise.

Having given all the background in the world about Haleem, let me introduce my first blood.

I'm part of a bunch of carnivorous friends(PG, Moinu, Satba,Bachi and few others ...) who are not fuzzy about having any type of food in any place at any time of the day. We are adventurous in hogging. We are shameless & disgusting.So what? No body died, we win the food all times. There were days when we had spent two hours in bikes maneuvering the busy streets of charminar, which is usually crowded and in the month of Ramadan you can drop a pin and I bet you, it won't reach the ground. We go to a place called Pista House to have the traditionally made Haleem which is available in tonnes there. Nothing has beaten its taste so far. This particular shop is so famous in hyderabad, it even started retail sales counters and kiosks in various parts of the city to distribute Haleem branded by its name. They even export fresh hot packed Haleem to the Gulf, thanks to Emirates flying daily from Hyderabad. They've also started sending Haleem by posts which opened up some controvercies last year.

On weekdays when we are tied up with work till late evenings, our alternative to Pista house will be the Haleem shop in Banjara Hills road#2, in front of the Masjid. PG likes this place a lot and has also been an ambassador to this particular shop by taking many other friends of him there. I had my first blood for this year yesterday. Having missed out on Haleem last year, I was looking like a hungry and ferrocious tiger or like an arrogant vulture in the deserts. Waited for the disgusting Mr.Bachi who chose to play table tennis as opposed to having Haleem, I lost patience and drove to the Masjid. It has to happen to me. They weren't ready with the Haleem. Drove back to punjagutta, parked my car in Hub, walked to Y2k chicken and had my first scoop of Haleem after 2 years. The prices have gone up and the quantity per serving has gone down. Does it matter? Had my second plate and felt like a King. My brother Savio also had his first ever haleem and decided to join the carnivorous gang.

Not taking this blog furthter, I dedicate this one to all Haleem eaters, my disgusting friends who missed out eating Haleem yesterday (sorry guys, we'll go today) and to all Muslims who religiously observe fast.

If any readers of this blog, find any interesting article on Haleem and its traditional preparation methods, please post as comment.