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Nalli nihari is a staple on Hakim’s must-have list during Ramadan

Kitchen Superstar: Recipes of the week from Mumbai's hottest chefs

Nihari memories

Khalid Hakim and his sons at Noor Mohammadi Hotel

A gastronomic trip to Mohammed Ali Road during Ramadan is incomplete without a leisurely stopover at Noor Mohammadi Hotel. This writer remembers jostling through a crowd to secure a table and chowing down platefuls of supple nalli nihari and fragrant white biryani. Hailing from a family which prides itself on introducing Mumbai to the flavourful wonders of nalli nihari, Khalid Hakim, the third-generation owner of the Bhendi Bazaar joint, naturally grew up on a steady diet of the slow-cooked mutton delicacy, along with mutton paya and kheema. Hakim remembers gorging on these treats at home, or at the restaurant in between serving customers during the fasting month. "Nihari, kebabs, bhajiya and pakodis would be doled out during iftar. Sometimes, we'd even call for pani puri or sev puri," he tells us. Back at home, the creator of chicken Sanju Baba and chicken Hakimi recalls his mother preparing sweet treats. "She would make khajla [a deep-fried, flaky pastry] that would be dunked in milk, along with phirni and rabdi that I later introduced at the hotel, too," he adds.

Phirni

Ingredients
. 1 ltr milk
. 180 gm sugar
. 90 gm rice (soaked for an hour and ground)
. 2 tbsp kewra water
. 100 gm mawa (khoya)
. Saffron and pistachio for garnishing

Method
Boil the milk. Add the ground, soaked rice and cook for five to 10 minutes. Now, add sugar and grated mawa, and let it cook for five to 10 minutes. Stir continuously until the sugar dissolves and the milk thickens. Add kewra water and a pinch of saffron. Serve it in a bowl or a kulhad, and garnish it with pistachio or other dry fruits.

Milky way

Asma Noorani remembers gorging on (left) chicken samosas, cutlets and sweet dishes like chocolate mousse

Since 1970, the Haji Ali Juice Centre, which overlooks the shrine of Haji Ali surrounded by the Arabian Sea, has been a landmark joint to relish juices, fruit creams, milkshakes, falooda and indulgent snacks. Over the decades, its characteristic simplicity has welcomed tourists and loyalists - a philosophy that founder Fareed Noorani practised at home, too, shares his daughter Asma. This is why, her childhood memories of Ramadan are coloured with simple, homely fare that her ammi, Salma, cooked up at their Haji Ali residence. "We generally didn't eat out or eat street food as much. Food was simple but delicious. My mother would make a spread of chicken and mutton cutlets, kathi rolls and samosas," she reminisces. A big part of the month-long festival was fruits and milk-based desserts. "Fruits help maintain the sugar levels after a daylong fast. During sehri, we would have milk-based dishes that are light and not spicy. Usually people seek spicier, savoury food. Milky, sweet dishes are soothing on the palate," she reasons. Think hot milk or curd with parathas, a light fruit custard, an indulgent mousse, or a cooling date-banana pudding. "The phirni from Suleman Usman Mithaiwala is lovely and used to be a favourite. They have still maintained that standard," she recalls.

Fruit custard

Ingredients
. 2 cups full-fat milk
. 4-5 tbsp sugar (or according to taste)
. 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
. 2.5 tbsp custard powder
. Chopped mangoes, grapes, apples, chikoos and any fruit of choice (chilled)
. Slivered dry fruits for garnishing

Method
Heat the milk in a heavy bottomed pan, but not at a very high flame. Add the sugar, and stir to dissolve. In a separate bowl, mix the custard powder with 1/4th cup warm or room temperature milk; remove all lumps. When the milk in the pan starts to boil, turn down the flame to low or medium. Keep adding the custard powder-milk mixture to the milk in the pan a couple of spoonfuls at a time, and keep stirring to avoid lumps. The mixture will slowly thicken. Turn off the stove and give the mixture a final stir to make it smooth. Let it cool. Add the chopped fruits and mix well. Serve and top with slivered dry fruits.