From Nizamuddin Basti in Delhi to Hyderabad: The women preserving a 700-year-old culinary legacy
Women from Delhi's Nizamuddin Basti have transformed their traditional culinary skills into a professional social enterprise called Zaika-e-Nizamuddin. The group is currently showcasing their heritage recipes at a food festival in Hyderabad to promote sustainable livelihoods.
Why it matters
This initiative highlights the intersection of cultural heritage preservation and women's economic empowerment through social entrepreneurship.
For generations, the women of Nizamuddin Basti, a 750-year-old historic neighbourhood in Delhi, centered around the revered 14th-century Sufi shrine, the Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah, cooked biryanis, kebabs, kormas and salans in their homes, relying on instinct rather than measuring spoons. But turning inherited recipes into a food enterprise required them to relearn what they already knew. They accepted feedback, standardised their menus and refined the dishes each specialised in, gradually building a culinary identity of their own.
Today, these women are part of Zaika-e-Nizamuddin, a women-led social enterprise supported by the Agha Khan Trust for Culture. Rooted in the historic neighbourhood’s culinary heritage, the enterprise preserves traditional flavours and generations-old family recipes while creating sustainable livelihoods for women in the community.
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