Meet Hussain Rezwan who cooks memories for his 5,000-strong community

Sixtysevenyearold Hussain Rezwan a resident of Sandhurst Road has been catering for Iranian weddings and community prayer meetings for the last 40 years His menu is a mix of Indian and Iranian fare PicsBipin KokateIts a rainsoaked Sunday morning when we meet Hussain Rezwan at the Moghal Masjid a 160yearold Iranian mosque tucked in a narrow bylane of Dongri Clad in a white vest and grey trousers he looks relatively relaxed Had you visited me last week I wouldnt have had the time to say hello he says Unlike the last 29 days when the 67yearold would get to work at 8 am and wind up 12 hours later today he can afford a late start Its the last day of Ramzan and we dont have to prep for sehri Well start preparing the iftar meal only by 230 pm so that it doesnt get cold by evening he tells us as we take a seat in Husseini Hall located in the mosque premisesThe 200seater has red and green carpets laid out for devouts to break their fast at dusk One corner has large cauldrons kept ready with chopped onions and tomatoes And next to this is the kitchen area where Rezwan has been spending the last one month ndash preparing iftari for members probono On other days the citys only Irani caterer operates from his functional kitchen at Mirza Ali Street few lanes away Its smaller than this around 700 sq ft but its manageable because its just two workers and myself For big orders he sources assistants Rezwan is the longest standing caterer to the Iranian Muslim community in the city which has a population of not more than 5000 Rezwan has been catering for Iranian weddings and community prayer meetings with Indian and Iranian fare for the last 40 yearsHussain Rezwan has staffers from UP who have been trained in Persian cooking techniquesA mixed cuisineSundays menu for iftar included chicken tikka biryani The turnout this month has been 700 people per day We prepare different types of pulaos every day of Ramzan he says While pulao or polow the Iranian pronunciation is a fairly universal item in Iranian cuisine it is a cherished dish prepared in different permutations The polow is aromatic flavoursome and nonspicy says Rezwan whose family hails from Yazd a desert town located 270 km southeast of Esfahan in Iran The Indian pulao he explains is an offshoot of the cultural and culinary exchange between Central Asia and India When you settle in another country you adapt to its ways and even contribute to its culture So today my cooking is like a bhelpuri of Persian and Indian food he jokesWhen Rezwan started his catering business in 1981 he focused on Iranian cuisine for small intimate functions It was only when business picked up that he hired Indian chefs Today he has cooks from Uttar Pradesh now adept at Iranian cuisine and his catering includes a mix of both Indian and Persian itemsWhile mutton and chicken biryani is the most soughtafter at functions items like zereshk polow barberry rice with chicken chelo kebab steamed saffron basmati rice topped with one of the many varieties of Persian kabab and tas kabab a fusion of meat and various vegetables layered and piled on top of each other and slow cooked are popular in the communityWhen it comes to food Rezwan says there isnt much difference between Zoroastrian and Iranian Muslims Iran was a Zoroastrian nation It was only 2000 years ago that people converted to Islam While religious practices may differ food habits continue to overlap he says For instance Nowruz or New Year which falls on the first day of spring on March 21 is celebrated by both Parsis and Muslims Iranians set up a table laden with lentil sprouts a wheat pudding dried oleaster berries apples and vinegar apart from other items like candles mirrors coloured eggs and even goldfish bowlsChicken kebabs are usually prepared during iftar when people break their fastIranian genes speakingOne of 11 siblings seven sons and four sisters Rezwan is the only one from the family inclined towards the hospitality sector We owned a restaurant at Crawford Market called Sharif but that place went in for redevelopment and we dont plan to reopen it he says In the 1920s Rezwans father was one of many Iranians who fled the country to escape the famine in which several perished While some made their journey to Mumbai on foot his father arrived on a ship with fellow villagersBombay was the obvious choice because of its commercial prospects says Rezwan adding that when the Zoroastrian Iranians of Bombay realised his family hailed from Yazd they offered them assistance They would sometimes employ them in the restaurant and give them the reins to manage it A couple of years later they would sell the shops to them Thats how Iranian Muslims came to own half of the restaurants in the city he explains Back then since there was no pagdi system we only had to pay rent After that they became owners themselves and stayed on in India he saysWhile there was a time when Iranian Muslims owned almost 80 per cent of Mumbais restaurant business today its less than 10 per centRezwan says that during Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavis time in Iran several foreign companies started investing in the country Those who were educated and well versed in English would be assured of gainful employment So they exhorted the diaspora to return People sold their property and went back Today they are leading good lives with a decent pension from the government he says Rezwan who has family back in Iran first visited the country at the age of 63But its Mumbai that he loves Of course life is good there as long as you dont meddle in government matters or criticise the establishment But for me Mumbai is homeLike him his son Ali is training to be a chef He asks me for tips on cooking But I tell him if you really want to learn watch me at work Not once or twice but everyday