By Md Aynal Haque
RAJSHAHI, Oct 24, 2022 (BSS)- Many of the distressed women are seen reviving their fate through black gram bread (kalai ruti) business in the city along with its outskirts.
Kalai Roti is a special kind of bread made of black gram (mashkalai) and other flours. This popular bread has been a traditional food item in Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj districts since immemorial time.
As a whole, the two districts are famous for the bread as the taste of the food is delicious to many people, including the outsiders. Side by side with changing their fortunes they are contributing a lot towards meeting up the existing demands of people, particularly the marginalized and other low-income groups.
Black gram bread with begun bhorta (spicy mashed eggplant) mixed with green chili and onion paste and mustard oil are very much favorite to the public in general. As a whole, the food has become a tradition in the two districts along with other adjacent ones.
Many people, including the distressed and underprivileged women, are maintaining their living and livelihoods round the year after the best uses of the tradition and popularity of the specialized bread.
Among numerous common street snacks, Kalai Roti would catch one's eyes easily. For the last couple of decades, some entrepreneurs have set up kalai ruti shops in fancy areas, including multi-storey buildings, to catch the high and middle class consumers.
They are also seen running their lucrative business successfully. Masura Begum, 54, has been operating a mashkalai bread shop at court premises for the last around 15 years with support of two or three workers.
After the death of her husband around 20 years back, she becomes very much hopeless with two kids.
She earns a profit worth around Taka 400 to 500 every day and meets up her family expenses with the earned money.
Currently, she is more or less happy with sale proceeds of the shop and she gained self-confidence about her survival with dignity.
Masura said many other women and men are also running bread shops in a thatched room covered with bamboo sticks and polythene at the court premises as there are enormous demands of the bread almost throughout the day, particularly the working hours of office.
Halima Begum, 48, another shopkeeper, has been running her business on Padma river bank adjacent to Shishu Academy since 2001 successfully.
Many of the visitors are her customers. Begum said during the initial stage the bread was sold at Taka two per piece but at present it's being sold at Taka 40 amid price hike of ingredients. The bread is eaten with different mashed items like green chilli, red chilli, eggplant, tomato, coriander, and different spicy meat items such as beef, duck etc.
She sells around 60-70 breads made of 10 kilograms of flour every day on an average. If anyone chooses to eat bhorta or duck meat with the bread he or she has to pay additional Taka 10 and Taka 120 respectively.
Mamunur Rahman, 43, an employee of a public office, who came to Begum's shop to eat bread, said he has been consuming the food regularly for around five to six years.
"I've been eating the food from various roadside shops with must taste and flavour," he said, while talking to BSS on Sunday. Abdul Mannan, 43, came from outside of Rajshahi for his official purposes and usually eats black gram bread to meet up his food demand.
Parveen Akter, 36, one more shopkeeper adjacent to Rajshahi Central Jail, has been operating her business for around ten years constantly.
Parveen's husband is a mason but his daily labour isn't equal to every day. So, her income contributes a lot to bear the expenses of their family. "One of the best ways of eating this bread is with spicy masalas. But we have to compromise on the spice a bit here considering people's taste. We are always committed to providing the best taste," said Parveen.
