Lucknow, UTTAR PRADESH :

Lucknow :

It is 8am on Saturday and big black cauldrons that will slowly simmer dal in them have been put up on burning embers with the help of two strong men. For the past 179 years, the ritual has been repeated every Ramzan in the bawarchikhana (kitchen) within the premises of the Chhota Imambara.

While it is dal and tandoori roti that is cooked for three days, an Awadhi delicacy called ‘taley hue aaloo ka salan’ (fried potato curry) with roti follows for the next three. The cycle continues for the entire month of Ramzan, feeding around 600 poor people as their dinner the the entire month of Ramzan.

In the same kitchen, a different set of snacks is also prepared for the specific purpose of serving rozedars coming to offer prayers in 15 mosques under Husainabad & Allied Trust (HAT).

Around 2,500 people will receive a plate of gujhiya, phulka, chana, suhaal, dates, a fruit (preferably banana) along with bread-butter and cake outsourced from a bakery, thanks to a king’s commitment to the poor.

The third King of Awadh, Muhammad Ali Shah, had created the Husainabad Endowment Deed in 1839 to feed the poor. Since then, the two massive community kitchens within the Chhota Imambara have been following the tradition of sending out iftari to the 15 mosques under its umbrella.

Every Ramzan, by the end of the day, this kitchen would have fed over 3,000 mouths.

“A sum of around Rs 16 lakh is passed for the iftar and dinner services every year. Two separate dedicated teams of chefs and their assistants are engaged for it. Everyday, activity in the kitchens begins at 8am. By 4.30pm, we send out the first batch of iftar food for the mosques,” said Habibul Hasan, an official from HAT.

The 179-year-old Nawabi tradition saw a break only in 2015. During Ramzan that year, a movement against alleged corruption in the UP Shia Central Waqf Board being spearheaded by Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawad  had brought the tradition to a halt. Protesters had locked the entrances to both the Bada Imambara and Chhota Imambara, restricting all entry. Even the kitchens could not function.

However, people from the neighbourhood of the 15 mosques came together to fund the food. HAT had also roped in private bakeries. Even during the mourning months of Muharram, food is served from the traditional kitchens of the Imambara.

source: http:///www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Lucknow News / by Yusra Husain / TNN / May 21st, 2018