Women lead a ‘ZeN’-like culinary revival of Nizamuddin Basti

Legacy of a culinary culture that goes back to 700 years is being made popular by women chefs from Delhi’s Nizamuddin Basti, as they power a micro-enterprise, called Zaika-e-Nizamuddin (ZeN)

A walk through the labyrinthine alleys of Nizamuddin basti is a sensory overload, in a pleasant way. One of the oldest neighbourhoods in Delhi, the area is home to the highly revered dargah (shrine) of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya. From vendors trying to get your attention to buy chadar and rose petals to offer at the dargah to narrow alleys lined up with shops selling khameeri rotis, kebabs, ittars and more, the basti has its own vibrant identity, developed over a period of more than 700 years.The thriving food scene, dominated by tastes unique and intrinsic to the spirit of the basti is a major attraction here. Ask any foodie in Delhi and they will swear by it!

Members of Zaika-e-Nizamuddin (Photo: Manoj Verma/HT)

And, in a quest to revive the culinary culture of Nizamuddin are 11 local women chefs from the basti. These women run Zaika-e-Nizamuddin (ZeN), a micro-enterprise from basti Hazrat Nizamuddin. ZeN, came into existence when a group of mothers came together to make and supply healthy homemade alternatives to the junk snacking in the basti. “It was initiated in 2012 under the Nizamuddin Urban Renewal Initiative of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in response to a study conducted under the initiative’s ECCD (Early Childhood Care and Development) component which revealed that more than 50 per cent of the children under the age of six in Nizamuddin Basti are malnourished,” said Swati Batra, program officer, Women’s Livelihood, Nizamuddin Urban Renewal Initiative.

A foodilicious journey

What started as an initiative to provide nutritious laddoos and chiwda for children, has expanded into an enterprise that boasts of more than 50 items in the menu. The catering wing of ZeN was started in 2015, growing into an independent women’s collective. While dishes like nihari, shami kebab, and biryani are the hottest selling items from ZeN, some of the dishes listed in the menu can just be found in the homes of people living in the basti. “Jiss tarah humare basti ka mahaul hai, humara menu bhi humne waise hi set kiya hua hai,” said Noorjahan, ZeN coordinator and member. “Mixing vegetables with meat is something that you will get in homes here in the basti. The menu has items such as shalgam ghosht (turnips with meat), murg and mutton khichda, keema karela (minced meat with bitter gourd) and lauki ghosht (meat with bottle gourd).” Home delivery, live counter, corporate orders, pop up restaurants are among some of the services that they offer.

In their kitchen located above Bully Cafe in Nizamuddin basti, the chefs dressed in headgear, apron, and uniform, work deftly towards preparing an order of two kilograms of chicken biryani and mutton kebabs. They share cooking duties on a rota basis and at the end of the month, payment is done for the days that they have cooked.

Members of Zaika-e-Nizamuddin (Photo: Manoj Verma/HT)

Over the years, Nizamuddin basti has seen migrants from various parts of the country, that have influenced its culinary culture. For instance, shalgam ghosht is cooked at homes in Amroha in North-Western Uttar Pradesh. The food culture at Nizamuddin Basti is also more focused towards providing nutrition, making it simpler than the Mughlai food that one gets to eat in Old Delhi. “This basti, is named after the Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya. The tradition of feeding the poor and hungry, began during his time and till date, this langar for feeding the poor is continued. This makes the food much simpler and more frugal than that would be served at the Mughal court. The objective was to feed them and give them nutrition. Nizamuddin Basti has its own micro cuisine, it’s a little bit of Mughlai but then it’s different,” said Batra.

Training is imparted to ensure uniformity in taste of every dish that is cooked. Special emphasis is paid to train them in maintaining hygiene while cooking and handling orders. “We don’t use anything frozen. We get the meats only once we have received the order. Even the water that we use is RO or mineral water,” said Noorjahan.

Financial empowerment

The initiative has also worked towards restoring the lost identities of these women. It’s empowering them by generating sustained, dignified, and enhanced incomes. “Initially, when I joined ZeN, we would earn some 50-100 rupees in a month. There was no support from my family. I had small children, and I would travel with them, all the way to West Delhi, for training. Our families weren’t supportive at all, and would say that instead of this, just work as house helps, this won’t work. But now the story has changed. All our hard work has paid off,” said Fatima, a member of ZeN.

Since the inception of the catering wing of ZeN, the members are engaged in monthly savings and inter-lending. Every month, a meeting is conducted, and a part of their earnings is saved. This is deposited into a separate savings account, operated by the authorised signatories of a Self-Help Group (SHG). The collective corpus is used for interest-free and collateral free, inter-lending. “Being a part of a SHG has benefitted the members and has played a pivotal role in ensuring their financial independence. They have taken loans for their personal needs, family requirements, and emergencies, from the group. There are plenty of examples when the women contributed financially to their family’s growth or to their children’s education due to access to easy credit from the SHG. The same has helped them gain self-confidence and rise in their family hierarchy. The loan repayment rate of ZeN’s SHG has been 100 per cent,” said Batra.

The group was recently invited to Grand Hyatt, Kochi, as guest chefs, where they cooked at the hotel’s kitchen with their staff for a promotional event. “Earlier we could have never imagined that our families would let us travel for work. But now, they happily allow us,” said Fatima.

The chefs of Zaika-e-Nizamuddin with chefs of Grand Hyatt, Kochi (Photo: Instagram/Zaika-e-Nizamuddin)

The author tweets @Namyasinha