Hyderabadi haleem is a very popular food dish from the famous Indian city Hyderabad. The dish has its roots associated with the Arab cuisine. During the 19th century a small clan from Hadhrami tribe brought the secret formula (Trade secret) of this recipe along with them to Hyderabad.
The dish is usually served as a starter during the marriage ceremony, gatherings and other social occasions. During the holy month of Ramadan one can easily find Haleem in every nook and corner of the Hyderabad city. The commonly used ingredients in the preparation of this delicacy are as follows (We also used the same ingredients in the preparation of this dish at home):
- Goat meat/chicken breast
- Coarsely-ground wheat (Harees, Jareesh)
- Butter/Ghee
- Lentils
- Ginger Garlic paste
- Indian spices (Red chilli powder, Turmeric powder, black pepper, cumin seeds, shah zeera, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, saffron)
- For Garnish, chopped Dry fruits such as pistachio, cashew, Almonds, pieces of lime, chopped coriander, fried onions
The grounded wheat is wash and soaked for a minimum of 3 hours. Goat meat/chicken breast is pressure cooked with Indian spices to make it soft and tender. In the restaurants, the washed grounded wheat is cooked at low flame of firewood for at least 6-8 hours (At home we used kitchen stove). Continuous stirring is a must with wooden paddles throughout the preparation process (At home we used a hand masher). When the wheat paste thicken-up, cooked tender meat/chicken is added to it. Further stir all the ingredients until the consistency of stew become sticky-smooth.
Many finance experts believes that the eateries in Hyderabad sells ~66 Million US$ worth of Haleem in just one month of Ramadan (Year: 2014). So, based on the Haleem popularity and its high financial value the Haleem Makers’ Association from Hyderabad applied for a Geographical Indication (GI) Protection in the Indian Patent office (Application # 193; Category: Food Stuff). So, this simply means only the registered Haleem makers from Hyderabad will have the legal authority to use the word “Hyderabadi Haleem” to sell their product provided they meet the quality standards specified by the association.
