Sehri Party Dishes, Sehri Party Ideas, Details

Advocate Waris Pathan's building compound came alive at midnight last week as Bandra's elite Muslims dressed in white sherwanis and skull caps arrived for a party that would end after 4 am. Rallying around a big table spread comprising delectable paya, kheema, chicken and firni, they greeted Pathan and co-host Parvez Lakdawala, marvelling at the opportunities Ramzan offers.
   
This one is called the sehri party—the nocturnal counterpart of the evening iftar. Fasting Muslims gather after the late-night tarawih namaz for leisurely meals and conversations, breaking only when they cannot make room for another morsel.
   
It is an idea whose time has come. Iftar has become such a popular networking tool that sehri or the morning meal could hardly escape attention. The suburb of Bandra, with its affluent, elite class of Muslims has drafted a busy sehri calendar, says Congress MLA Baba Siddiqui as he prepares to attend Saturday's party being hosted by Kadar Khan, owner of Sheesha Restaurant.
   
Advocate Majeed Memon has received seven or eight invitations this season as the lawyers' collective in Bandra is rather active on the sehri front. Not only advocates Pathan and Yusuf Lakdawala, jeweller Moin Motiwala, businessman Sharifbhai and hotelier Kadar Khan have also been busy laying out the spread.
   
Claiming credit for having hosted the first sehri in Mumbai seven years ago, writer-actor Kadar Khan says the concept is a Pakistani import. "Sehri parties serve the best meals you can eat in Ramzan. Tonight, we are putting out raan biryani, dumba, Moroccan kebabs and kulfi,'' he says. "In true Islamic tradition, we have
    invited our Hindu friends
    as well. In fact, we welcome anyone who wishes to come, underprivileged or uninvited.'' The phenomenon has added volumes to local business. Several gravitate to the popular Lucky Restaurant that supplies biryani and firni, says restaurant owner Syed Mohsin.
  
Though Mumbai has cultivated a reputation as a city that never sleeps, hosts are careful to time the sehri on the eve of a public holiday. After all, it would not do to dampen the lavish arrangements with a poor turnout, so Pathan and Parvez Lakdawala had theirs on the eve of Janmashtami and Kadar Khan chose Saturday night.
   
"In any case, the nights of Ramzan are a time to pray, so the congregation gathers for namaz before dispersing,'' Khan says. Making an interesting distinction between iftar parties and sehri, he says hurried guests tend to wrap up iftar by 8 pm so that they can attend tarawih. Sehri starts around 11.30 pm and ends around 3.30 am-4 am.
   
After eating through the night, it becomes impossible for rozedars to perform the actual sehri around 4.30 am. Baba Siddiqui only arrives around 2.30 am so he can fortify himself in the final hours before dawn. The politician who organises regular iftars has yet to do a sehri. "My constituency is so vast I will have to organise four sehris like I do four iftars,'' he laughs.