Winter Delicacies

          Indians have a zeal to live life. In spite of the ups and downs of our lives, we have an undying spirit to celebrate. We Indians believe in celebrating even small happiness of our lives with our dear ones be it dry promotion, acknowledgement from our seniors, reunion with old friends, singledom, freedom from clutches of a bad ex and not to forget seasons.

Yes, it's true. Winter is the most awaited season. Hot boiled eggs with tea, soups, hot puddings are the best brunch in winter afternoon. In a chilly winter night, everyone from young to old gathers around a bonfire chatting, giggling, teasing each other and enjoying fresh roasted peanuts, sweet potato etc. For non-vegetarians winter offers mouth watering savories like paaya, nihari and haleem.

Nihari is a popular meat dish of breakfast. The dish has its roots in nawabi cuisine of Awadh, northern India. While some believe Nihari originated in old delhi in late 18th century, during the reign of Moghul empire. Nihari curry is made from beef or lamb with its main ingredient being lamb shank. The dish is cooked on low heat overnight in a degh or at least for 6-8 hours. The meat becomes extremely tender into morsels. The marrow falls out of the knuckle bones and gets dissolved in the broth making the dish more delicious. The dish is finally garnished with fried onions, ginger juveniles, coriander leaves and lemon wedges. The delicacy is served with naan/qulcha. One serving of nihari(250 gm) has 450 calories in it. Nihari is used as a home remedy for cold, running nose and fever.

Haleem is a persian dish which was brought to india during Akbar's period by immigrants from Iran and Afghanistan. This dish is popular during months of Ramadan, Muharram and in cold weather. Haleem is made of mutton, wheat, lentils and spices. It varies in other regions but always includes wheat and meat. The dish is slowly cooked for 8-12 hours in a brick and mud kiln. One or two men use large wooden sticks to mix it thoroughly during its preparation, until it gets paste like consistency. It is served with crispy fried onion, sliced-boiled egg and sprinkle of lemon juice. Haleem is a high calory dish(380 calories per serving), excellent source of fibre and protein. Haleem has some variants also like chicken haleem also known as Irani Harees. Another popular variant of haleem in northern india is Khichda. The main difference between haleem and khichda is that haleem is cooked until meat blends with lentils and forms a thick soup while in khichda chunks of meat remain as cubes.

So friends, do not miss out these awesome traditional delicacies.

Article Courtesy: Afshan Farooq