Slow-cooked in enormous cauldrons, the rice-based nonbu kanji is an integral a part of iftar meals, distributed to these in want throughout Ramzan
A fortnight into Ramzan, the Islamic month of fasting, cooks and caterers have been busy making ready nonbu kanji, a nutritious slow-cooked gruel made out of rice and different grains throughout southern India.
The gruel is an integral a part of the fast-breaking meal (iftar) amongst South Indian Muslims. For a long time, mosques and different spiritual establishments have concerned the local people in making ready and distributing the gruel to anybody who asks for it.
While final yr’s lockdown noticed a whole closure of Ramzan actions in mosques, this yr, many establishments in Tamil Nadu have opted to renew serving nonbu kanji whereas following hygiene and social distancing protocols.
Using roughly the identical spices as biryani, nonbu kanji is a meal in itself. Raw rice (basmati or jeeraga samba) is cooked to a mushy consistency in a flavourful broth of mutton or greens, after which tempered with thinly-sliced fried onions.
Recipes fluctuate in keeping with area, and availability of substances. “As the nonbu kanji is perhaps the only proper food that many poor fasting Muslims can afford to have during Ramzan, we try and reach out to as many needy people as possible,” says Mohamed Yusuf, secretary of the Masjid Javeed mosque, which features below the auspices of the Anna Nagar Islamic Centre in Chennai.
We are blissful that we’ve been allowed to serve kanji this yr, consistent with the spirit of Ramzan. We have been following the well being pointers to make sure a secure expertise for each the general public and the workers,” he provides.
Due to the lockdown, we have decided to cancel the iftar on our premises, and prepare kanji only for distribution this year,” says Yusuf.Social distancing norms are being adopted, with separate entry and exit factors to maintain all the course of as hygienic as attainable, he provides.
Close to a thousand individuals from areas in and round Anna Nagar avail the nonbu kanji serving.
In Madurai’s Masjid-ut-Taqwa mosque, mass caterer Syed Ibrahim and his mom have been up since 5am, cooking kanji with jeeraga samba rice utilizing his father’s recipe; he begins with the broth reasonably than sautéing the essential substances in oil to maintain the dish lighter on the abdomen.
When eaten with fried snacks like samosas and vadais, a bowl of nonbu kanji is usually a hearty dinner.“After the kanji is ready here, I go off to Sempatti (55 kilometres from Madurai) to make the same dish at a mosque there,” says Ibrahim, including, “It’s not just about the food, but also a kind of social service, because countless people are going to eat what we cook.”
A neighborhood effort
Contributing in direction of nonbu kanji preparation has been a convention for a lot of Muslim households over generations in Tamil Nadu. “Funding the kanji operations adds to the camaraderie in the congregation, where everyone does their bit,” says V M Abdul Rafi, a Madurai-based functionary of the Tamil Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK).
“In cities like Madurai, the kanji alone in some mosques will cost upwards of ₹25,000 per day, which congregation members will sponsor.
Others who want to be part of the effort, can chip in for side dishes like fried snacks, fruits, cool drinks and bottled water,” he provides. “Earlier, nonbu kanji used to be prepared in huge cauldrons at home, and families used to share it with everyone in the neighbourhood, irrespective of their religious affiliation,” says Rafi.
At Tiruchi’s Periya Pallivasal (Big Mosque) on Tennur High Road, nonbu kanji is served put up midday. “This year, we are making kanji from 65 kilos of rice which will feed around 1,200 people,” says mosque trustee Maulvi M Zahir Hussain Ilhami.
The five-hour cooking course of ends with the kanji left on dum (warmth compress) on the firewood stoves, till it is able to serve. Nonbu kanji aficionados say the firewood imparts a smoky flavour to the dish that’s fairly unimaginable to realize at dwelling.
Zahir provides that although most mass caterers be sure that all the cauldron of nonbu kanji is distributed earlier than 8pm, they “prefer to serve it fresh every day, to keep it as nutritious as possible.”
