The Memon kitchen's diverse Ramzan menu

By most definitions, Muslim food is often relegated to biryani, nihari, haleem and korma. It's what the vast majority of people know, given the significant Mughal influence on food. But scratch the surface and you will find a plethora of Muslim communities with their own foods that, more often than not, make an appearance during the month of Ramzan.

- Arzoo Dina

The Bohra community, rooted in Gujarat, has its own specialities, such as pattice and smoked kheema samosas, as does the Konkani Muslim community with dishes featuring coconut and tamarind. For the Memons, however, there isn't one singular influence that defines their food. It's an amalgamation of tastes that have evolved owing to migration patterns that span centuries.

During Ramzan, for the Memons, dishes such as lightly spiced mutton and chicken samosas make an appearance for iftar (sundown) and sehri (pre-dawn) meals. There's dal gosht, a hearty one-pot dish of lentils (chana dal, masoor and toor), meat with tamarind as a souring agent. Drinks like gud ka sharbat or jaggery sherbet with a generous dose of basil seeds and fennel seeds, help to cool the body after a long day of fasting. Then, there are classics like hareesa, a milder version of haleem made with slow-cooked meat, bulgur wheat and sometimes barley. Sweet dishes include China Grass halwa or pudding, which is a wobbly creation of agar-agar and chopped nuts.

This culinary history can be traced back to roughly 1432 AD when some 700 families residing in Sindh in present-day Pakistan migrated owing to religious and political upheaval in the region. These families eventually made their way to Gujarat in present-day India. Groups split and went in different directions, forming distinct subgroups. Some settled in the Kutch region, earning the moniker of Cutchi Memons, while others settled in Kathiawar, and came to be called Halari or Halai Memons. The dialect spoken by each is unique, a cross between the Sindhi, Kutchi and Gujarati languages.