From Nizamuddin Basti in Delhi to Hyderabad: The women preserving a 700-year-old culinary legacy
Women from Delhi's Nizamuddin Basti have transformed their traditional culinary skills into a professional social enterprise called Zaika-e-Nizamuddin. The group is currently showcasing their heritage recipes at a food festival in Hyderabad to promote sustainable livelihoods.
For generations, the women of Nizamuddin Basti, a 750-year-old historic neighbourhood in Delhi, centered around the revered 14th-century Sufi shrine, the Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah, cooked biryanis, kebabs, kormas and salans in their homes, relying on instinct rather than measuring spoons. But turning inherited recipes into a food enterprise required them to relearn what they already knew. They accepted feedback, standardised their menus and refined the dishes each specialised in, gradually building a culinary identity of their own.
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