Biggest Iftar Shop In The World & Famous Traditional Food Selling In This Market.

 

Biggest Iftar Shop In The World!

Famous & Traditional Food Selling In This Market Bangladesh.

Chowkbazar

Chowkbazar another name called "Old Dhaka" is a popular market located in Lalbagh of Old Dhaka. During the month of Ramadan, iftar is served here. Chawkbazar kebabs are very famous. Chawkbazar is one of the old markets of Dhaka.

Chowkbazar is now a reliable place for wholesalers all over Bangladesh. All types of wholesale goods are available in all streets, houses, and markets of Chawkbazar. For example cosmetics, clothes, toys, daily use items, bakery products. Location on google map following as-

When you hear the name of Old Dhaka, that image comes to everyone's mind. And that is a spicy delicacy. Such food is available more or less everywhere in Old Dhaka, but some areas are known for their food. These are like Nazira Bazar, Islampur, Gendaria, Narinda, Chawkbazar, Roy Saheb Bazar – many more. During the holy month of Ramadan, these areas take on a different form.

Shops in the area are lined up with all kinds of iftar. The most popular area for Iftar is Chowkbazar.

Since the Mughal rule, various spicy dishes have been introduced. Kachchi Biryani, Mughlai Parota, Halim, various types of kebabs, Borhani, meat roast, and many other names!

Chowkbazar has been carrying the tradition of spicy Mughlai food for years. During the month of Ramadan, sellers do not have time to catch their breath. Jali Kebab, whole chicken and quail roast, rumali roti, pigeon roast, khasir glassi, botti kabab, suti kabab, khasir leg roast, are prepared using oil, ghee and more masala.

Dai Bara, Shahi Jilapi, Bombay Jilapi, Reshmi Jilapi, Paneer Samucha, Chicken Maslam, Tana Parotta, Shahi Parotta, Panch Parotta, Halim, Shik Kebab, Hariyali Kebab, Kofta Kebab etc. There are also Kachchi, Tehari, Dum Biryani, Kabli Polao, Chap Polao, Hyderabadi Biryani, Nababi Biryani – just to name a few. Sweets include saffron sorbet, kulfi malai, lachi, faluda, lemon sorbet,

Pistachio nut sorbet, matha, labang, tokma grain sorbet, belle sorbet, jaggery sorbet, phirni, curd, jorda, shahi pieces, laddus, mansoor, khajala (Bombay Confectionery and Alauddin Sweet Meat or area adjacent to Chowkbazar Shahi Masjid), ghugni and boot. – Many more names that cannot be finished. But!

The most attractive thing in Chowkbazar is Elder Father's Son eats it. "Boro Baper Polay Khay". Although the name sounds strange, this dish is very fun to eat. This dish can be found everywhere in Chawkbazar, but according to locals, Haji Shaheed Baburchi is the best-known artisan of this dish. According to him, it is a hundred-year-old traditional dish of old Dhaka made with 36 types of ingredients and 18 spices, which can easily nourish the fasting people for the whole day.

After COVID-19: till now 2023 at ramadan The familiar scene returned to the streets of Chawkbazar after two years of misery. On Sunday, the first day of Ramadan, the streets in front of Chawkbazar Jame Masjid in Old Dhaka were filled with hundreds of varieties of delicious food like kebabs, kofta, roast, parota, tandoori, fuluri, onion, beguni, halwa, sorbet. His scent wafted through the musty air of Chaitra. But the price is quite high.

On the first day of fasting, it was seen that the sellers have arranged their stalls with great enthusiasm. Due to the corona epidemic, the Iftar market of Choker did not sit like that for the last two years. There was uncertainty about whether the market would settle or not. Later, local business leaders, and representatives of MPs talked to the administration and arranged to set up an iftar market. From 3 o'clock in the afternoon, traffic stopped on the road in front of the Chowk Mosque from the Urdu Road junction, and the Iftar crowd sat down.

The tradition of this iftari market in Chawkbazar is long. Dhaka's food habits and culture are combined with Choker's Iftari market as a unique element. Hakim Habibur Rahman in his famous book Dhaka: Pachas Bars Pahle (translated into modern Bengali by Dr. Mohammad Rezaul Karim, titled Dhaka: Fifty Years Ago) gave a detailed account of Iftari market in Chak and the Iftari food and drink in Dhaka of that time. He wrote, 'Iftari shops used to be set up in the square, rich and poor people used to come to the square and at three o'clock there would be a good fair. Every person brought something from the chalk.'

Chuck's Iftari is famous for its wide variety of kebabs and meat dishes. Cotton (Suta or Daga) kebabs made by twisting yarn in a special way with a long hook are very popular at Iftari.

Muri, Ghugni, Chhola etc. are mixed together with cotton kebabs and eaten. Apart from this, there are shik, shami, reshmi, jali, boti, khiri, gurda, tengri, handi among the kebabs. There are also whole chicken, quail and pigeon roast, rezala, chapa etc.

Iftar bazaar in Chowk is back to its old form but food prices are not the same. Buyers say the price is too high. The sellers are also accepting that. The prices of oil, spices, meat, sugar, and vegetables are rampant. So what is their way without increasing the price of iftar?

At present the market of daily items is on the upswing so the price of iftari is also high, after talking to many traders, their different opinions are known:-

The owner of Zamzam Bakery, Haji Wahab, the cook, said that they usually do not increase the prices during Ramadan. But this time, as the price of goods has increased, the price of some foods has to be increased. Beguni, beguni, pakora are 5 taka each as before. But the size is a little smaller. Egg chop last year was Tk 30, this year Tk 40.

Buyers came from far and wide and they also told about their hobbies:-

Bangladesh Bank Deputy Director Ashraful Islam's wife from Motijheel came to Chawkbazar to buy Iftar on the first day of fasting. His Wife Shamima Begum is also in government service. This is their first fast after marriage. Heard about the fame of Chuck's Iftari, so he came to buy Iftari despite the terrible traffic. Bought curd and some types of kebabs. He said that the price is a bit high, but everything in the market is expensive now.

Hidden inside the old Dhaka's Ghinji Alley are many food stalls rich in centuries of history. Not only Chawkbazar, if you visit the streets of Old Dhaka, you will also find thousands of food shops, which offer special food during Ramadan. Foods are sold at very low prices in local shops compared to various reputed food shops. Apart from the month of Ramadan, the food shops of Old Dhaka are crowded with people for twelve months.

Finally: the presence of hundreds of people in Chawkbazar shows how much the people of Old Dhaka are foodies. Businessmen here hope that this picture will continue throughout the month of Ramadan. And the buyers say that it is necessary to maintain the quality of these Iftar products of Chawkbazar not from a historical point of view.

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