Muharram: Savour these crispy cookies this season in Hyderabad

‘Dum ke Roat’ is popular during the Muharram, the first month of Hijri calendar, and sold across the bakeries in Hyderabad during the first ten days of the month

Hyderabad: With rains lashing the city continuously for the last few days and the sales of ‘Dum ke Roat’ affected to great extent, the bakers are now planning to sell the cookies for the whole month of Muharram.

‘Dum ke Roat’ is popular during the Muharram, the first month of Hijri calendar, and sold across the bakeries in the city during the first ten days of the month. Its popularity is now also catching up in other districts of Telangana, and adjoining Maharashtra and Karnataka as well.

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The cookie — almost the size of a tea saucer — is prepared with wheat flour, sooji (semolina), vegetable oil, sugar, honey, clarified butter, salt, cardamom, and milk products. “It is purely vegetarian. We don’t use eggs to prepare it,” said Syed Irfan, of Subhan Bakery at Nampally. A kilogram of Dum ke Roat is priced at Rs 680 this year here.

But, Irfan pointed out that as the rains have dampened the business, “sales have dropped by about 50 per cent”. “Usually, the Muslim community purchases it during the first ten days of Muharram as a practice,” he added.

The adverse weather conditions increased the expenditure involved in packing the products too. “High quality packing material is used to ensure the cookies stay crispy,” said MA Majid of Pista House. The popular chain of bakeries prepares ‘zafrani roat’ and it’s priced at Rs 440 for half a kilogram.

Another popular variety, ‘gurr roat’, is sold at the Bakewell Cake House at Tolichowki. “Jaggery and kesar are added to the regular ingredients. It is popular among the youngsters. We also sell sugar-free roat,” said Syed Maqbool of Bakewell Cake House.

The story goes that this type of cookie was offered to mourners in the Muharram procession by the Nizam. In the run up to the 10 days of Muharram, also known as Ashoora, people make a beeline at the bakeries to purchase the cookies.