Seasonal confectionery ‘Dum ke Roat’ back in Hyderabad bakeries
Dum ke Roat, the popular cookie prepared and sold during the Muharram month at city bakeries is back.
Hyderabad: Dum ke Roat, the popular cookie prepared and sold during the Muharram month at city bakeries is back. Hugely popular during Muharram, the first month of Hijri calendar, the delicacy has traditional significance and is in good demand during the month.
Each passing year, the bakers across the city are competing to outdo their rivals in terms of taste and pricing. ‘Dum ke Roat’ is a crispy cookie, almost the size of a tea saucer, prepared with wheat flour, sooji (semolina), and vegetable oil, sugar, honey, clarified butter, and 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.
Bakeries have started preparing it since the start of the month of Muharram. Though not having anything to do with the Islamic history, it is traditional practice continuing for decades in the erstwhile Nizam State. The story goes that this type of cookie was offered to mourners in the Muharram procession by the Nizam.
Another tale goes that the seventh Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan, is believed to have offered roat to the ‘Nala-e-Mubarak’ Alam near Charminar for the safety and well-being of his grandson, Mukarram Jah Bahadur. This practice continues till date and people who take a vow for the safety of their wards break it on the Alam and distribute it to others.
M A Majid, of Pista House said irrespective of the caste and creed people visit their stores and purchased the Dum Ke Roat. “We use quality stuff in making the cookie. The preparation process is executed by experienced bakers,” he said. The eatery is making arrangement to ship the eatable across the globe and has tied up with a courier service agency for the purpose.
Another popular variety, ‘gur roat’, is sold at the Bakewell Cake House at Tolichowki. “Jaggery and kesar are added to the regular ingredients,” said Syed Maqbool of Bakewell Cake House. The roat is also available at Alpha Bakery – Secunderabad, Rose Bakery – Chaderghat and Karachi Bakery among other places in the city.
