A century-old tradition

Towara, a resident of Narayanganj, came to Chawkbazar yesterday on the first day of Ramadan to try out its well-renowned iftar for the first time in her life.

Accompanied by her brother Biplob Khan, the two were inspired to come here by all the coverage regarding Chawkbazar's much talked about iftar items on traditional and social media.

"We have purchased boro baper polay khay and will take some other items from here to have iftar with our parents," said Towara.

She said they heard about these traditional items over the years but finally got the opportunity to come here this Ramadan.

Several hundred years old, the Chawkbazar iftar market -- the largest iftar market in the capital -- attracts hundreds of people from all over the country.

Every Ramadan, people gather at the market to buy varieties of items. Several hundred makeshift shops sell items prepared from meat, vegetables, sweets, milk and other ingredients.

Some iftar items can be traced back to the Mughal era. The most popular item in the market is "Boro Baper Polay Khay", which is a mixture of chickpeas, minced meat, potatoes, brains, chira, egg, chicken, spices and ghee. The item is sold at Tk 800 per kg.

Other famous items include beef and chicken roasts, mutton and chicken cutlet, keema roll, keema paratha, borhani and various types of kebabs including Suti, Jali, Irani, and Tika.

Malai cup, firni, plain parathas, namak para, doi bora and feluda are some of the other items found in the market.

Prices of most of these items have increased due to the price of essentials.

Many come to Chawkbazar from all across Dhaka, like Raihan Ahmed Shamim and Sharmin Hasan who visited the iftar market from Moghbazar.

Abdul Hannan, a resident of Keraniganj, said they are habituated with these traditional iftar items since their childhood, which is why even after leaving old Dhaka he came here to purchase his iftar.

"I spent 12 years in a school and college in old Dhaka. Which is why I still come here every year to take these items for my family," said Amzad Hossain, a resident of Mirpur-12.

Trader Mohammad Hossain, whose business has been running here for the last 35 years, said his family has been selling iftar items in the market since the British period.

"My grandfather sold iftar items in Chawkbazar during the British rule, my father is Pakistani and now I do business here," said Hossain.

Similarly, Md Kawsar, a trader of shahi jilapi, said they have been in this business since his grandfather started it.

"We are selling each kg of shahi jilapi for Tk 300 and the price of bombay jilapi is Tk 250 per kg," he said.

Meanwhile, hundreds of makeshift shops mushroomed in different areas of the capital since yesterday. Traders are opening up stalls and selling a variety of iftar items in their localities.