Raziya Begum, Farheen Begum and Syeda Anees Fatima collectively complete cooking a meal for 100 people by 9am every day. They are part of a team at the Luqma kitchen studio by Safa in Darulshifa in the Old City (Hyderabad), where I met them to explore how they dish out authentic Hyderabadi dishes like dum ka keema, khichdi khatta, khatti dal, bagara chawal, dalcha, shammi kebab, apart from the ubiquitous biryani and haleem. Luqma in Urdu means a morsel.
The three ladies were busy with their order for a private lunch. While Raziya checked the khichdi to ensure that it was not squishy or getting burnt, Suraiya was busy tidying the kitchen and Fatima was wielding a traditional hand masher on the toor dal that had been cooked with tomatoes, salt and turmeric. Seated at a desk outside the kitchen was the manager of Luqma, Nahid, going through the orders for the week ahead.
