Sewai shops in a market in the capital. Picture by Manik Bose

Ranchi, Sept. 28: Walking through Daily Market on the Main Road is a treat nowadays as the smell of delicacies for Id hit the olfactory senses.

Footpaths on either side of the road are full of food stalls and people in large numbers are flocking these makeshift stalls. Vendors are busy haggling with customers. The rush is overwhelming during the evening just before iftaar parties begin in the city.

Among the hot favourites here sewai and bakkarkhani, said Abdul Majid, a seller from Khunti who has been setting up shop near the Daily Market every Id over the past decade.

“The season is a busy one for sellers like us who come from far-off places. Here, the rush is so much that from morning till night, we don’t have the time to even think. For the past 20 days, I have been selling around 35kg of sewai each day,” he added.

To add flavour to the sewai, dry fruits, natural fragrance, and sugar are used as ingredients, explained Majid.

“Kimami lacchha, Banarsi laccha, rumali laccha and the bedami laccha are in great demand here this season. Each vary in taste and texture and price,” explained Majid.

During the season of Ramazan when feasting and fasting go hand-in-hand, the bakers are a lucky lot. They do brisk business and earn sizeable profits during a span of just 30 days. The bakers who have their bakeries in Hindpiri and Karbala Chowk area of the capital work all day to satisfy the growing demands of their customers.

Tarique Ahmed, a wholesale baker who has his factory in Azad Colony near Main Road, said: “The demand is usually so high that we have to increase our manpower four-fold. I have called around 20 extra labourers from the neighbouring states of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.

The work is divided among the men. While one group of labourers knead the dough, another passes it through the sewai-maker while yet another deep fries it.

This business of working on war-footing has rewards as well.

“Our business booms during this time of the year. With the increasing population in the capital, sales have been increasing each year. On a single day, I sell around 12-15 quintal of sewai and bakkarkhani to small shopkeepers. This fetches me a turnover of around Rs 20,000 to 25,000 monthly,” he said.

Most customers have their favourites among these flour- made food items.

“I like the crispy shreemal and mehboobi bakkarkhani. While sheer khurma tastes best when made of bedami laccha, kimani sewai has a mind-blowing fragrance” said eleven-year-old Afzal who had come with his parents to buy these delicacies.