Serving crunchy treat

Best known for its Osmania biscuits, Subhan bakery is now getting trendy
Happiness is only a biscuit away in Hyderabad - an Osmania biscuit to be precise. One bakery which takes the credit for this has gone for an image makeover. A double delight indeed.

Now you don’t need to jostle or elbow around to get your favourite cookie. The ambience of Subhan Bakery poast makeover is refreshingly airy and spacious. One of the oldest bakeries in the city has now turned into a sort of large upmarket retail store where you make your purchases at a leisurely pace. In terms of its yummy goodies too, it has gone in for a major expansion offering 60 varieties of biscuits, cakes, toasts, rusks, curry puffs, breads, pastries, pizzas and burgers, all in tune with changing trends.

But the USP of Subhan bakery remains Dum ke Roat and Osmania biscuit. The latter named after the 7th Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan, is the fastest moving product on the shelf. People from all over the city and nearby districts drop in here just to get the Osmania biscuit, a product popular both among the commoners and elite. The loyalty and support Subhan bakery enjoys from its customers is phenomenal. Don’t be surprised if you find junior film artists, doctors and politicians queuing up for it. Film producer, Dasari Narayan, had been a great fan of this biscuit. Hyderabad MP, Asaduddin Owaisi, gets the crispy biscuits from Subhan and so does the megastar Chiranjeevi. When the State legislature is in session, the law makers get their crunchy treat from here. Osmania biscuit and Irani chai - can a true blue Hyderabadi do without them?

Dum ke Roat is another crusty fare that is a big hit with customers. Essentially sought after during Muharram, the first month of Islamic calendar, it is now available even after the month of mourning is over. The main ingredients are: wheat flour, sooji (semolina), vegetable oils, sugar, honey, clarified butter, salt, and cardamom and milk products.

For added flavour it is decked with dry fruits such as almonds, cashew nuts, pista and saffron. But getting all these in the right proportion is the most important aspect. The duration of baking is what lends that brownish look while making it crunchy from outside and soft within. What’s more, Roat is made of pure ghee and is 100 percent vegetarian.

So where is the Subhan bakery? Once you land in Nampally trust your olfactory glands to guide you to it. Yeah, much before you set eyes on the bakery you smell it. Passersby couldn’t miss the fragrance of freshly baked biscuits wafting in the air.

All the fame this bakery enjoys is because of Syed Khader who named it after his son, Syed Subhan, in 1951. The bakery had been running without any name since 1948 from a cramped shop in Red Hills. “My grandfather sacrificed his time, family life, leisure and luxury to build the bakery,” says Syed Irfan, who now runs the bakery along with his younger sibling, Syed Imran. So while the bakery has existed in the present form for the last 69 years, the family has actually been running the enterprise for over a century.

Now in the seventh generation, it is leveraging technology to boost its products. The four-storied bakery is home to imported machines from Germany and Italy to dish out biscuits, breads and cakes in a jiffy. The formula which whips up the unique taste of course remains a closely guarded secret. Subhanallah!

- J.S.Ifthekhar,

Hyderabad based journalist.

Article published in The Hindu

Dated July 11,2017