[
HYDERABAD : Ramzan has now become synonymous with haleem as people enjoy and relish this food—rich in nourishment and exquisite in taste—providing a distinct experience for those fasting. Pista House has been quite popular for its haleem, a go-to place for t food lovers during this month. However, preparing this dish is a 12-hour-long tedious process, and mastering the dish that is served and consumed with love is not easy. We get in touch with Mohd Abdul Mohsi of Pista House, Attapur, who takes us through the haleem—making process.
Speaking about the process that takes most of the time of their employees, Mohsi says, “Firstly, haleem takes a lot of effort, we do not have any kind of technology that can help us find shortcuts for that without compromising on the taste and nourishment. It is a traditional format which has been carried forward by my father for 25 years now. The same process, the same style and protocols have been followed all these years.”
He told CE that they start working from 2am, beginning with the cutting of meat. “When we put mutton into the vessels, it takes around six to seven hours to boil and for it to become tender. Then we add green chilli, ghee and all the spices that are required. We put it for dum (meat put under a mix of pulses) for an hour and mix it slowly so that it tastes good and the mutton should have a good flavour. Then we mash the haleem for about an hour. The total process takes around 10-12 hours, the best thing is that we do not use any kind of machines and it is a man-made process. It takes a lot of strength to make this and our team gets exhausted by the end of the day. We have people working in three shifts here and we have dedicated work given to them. There is no count of vessels of haleem that we make daily. There are more than 100 vessels here and each weighs around 100 to 1000 kg,” he said.
