Haleem special, for women by women

Ever wondered what an all-women section with only women waitresses in a city’s eatery would look like? Then walk into Charminar’s Pista House this Ramzan. For the first time in Indian history, this popular city-based eatery will be organising an all-women Haleem wing churning out the delicacy, cooked and served by the ladies for the ladies.The cultural ethos of Hyderabad goes beyond the famous Charminar and the Mecca Masjid. Come Ramzan and the buzz around the bazaars in the city is obvious.Thousands make a beeline at numerous eating joints, irrespective of size, to grab a plate of Haleem, the famous syrupy delicacy of Iranian origin made from the three Gs -- gosht (mutton), ghee (clarified butter) and gehoon (wheat). Pista House near Charminar came up with this concept of providing an all-women haleem wing to ensure that it is more comfortable and enjoyable for women as well. The dining section of Pista House will have all women cooking haleem and will also serve the customers.Talking about the concept, Abdul Majeed, managing director, Pista House says, “We have more than four branches of Pista House in the city. But in Charminar, apart from family section and general section, we have introduced a ladies wing. A lot of women and college girls would want to come and enjoy haleem, and it would be very comfortable for them to sit and eat in a separate ladies wing.”The all women-wing can accommodate 200 women and there will be 50 women cooks and waitresses. All of them have been trained how to cook and will be cooking vegetarian and non-vegetarian Haleem and sweets like Double Ka Meetha and Qubani Ka Meetha.This is not all. Since Shravan month runs along Ramzan, in order to reach out to the vegetarian connoisseur, Haleem goes green. “We are using the same spices and seasoning for the vegetarian Haleem. But it is substituted with dry fruits instead of meat and has gained immense popularity among the Hindus with the advent of Shravan maas,” says Majeed adding, “Most of our customers are Hindus. They come from all over the city to eat Haleem, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian.”A bowl of the final product sure looks appetising --- carrots, beans and potatoes cooked with pulses and wheat, coarsely ground and garnished with crisp fried onions to be served with a dash of mint and lemon.The hand-blending of the ingredients with massive oar shaped spoons in the degh bring out that consistency and flavour.TAKE-AWAY“Apart from all-women wing, this time we have 200 take-away outlets of Haleem all through the city to make it accessible  for people to savour the season’s delicacy,” says Majeed. According to Majeed, last year they used to transport haleem to different parts of the country, adding, “Since the demand is more in Bengaluru this year, we have opened an open kitchen in Bengaluru for people,” he adds.PATENTPopular among Hyderabadis, Haleem has got a patent. Haleem has been awarded the Geographical Indication (GI) tag, making it clear that no other city can make or market the dish as Hyderabadi Haleem.