The princely state of Hyderabad Deccan could not become a part of Pakistan in 1947 but its Indo-Arabian cuisines have made inroads into the country’s culinary delights. And for that reason the credit goes to the denizens of a locality established opposite the Central Jail.

Welcome to Karachi’s little Hyderabad, where the faithful come for a hearty Iftar and are induced to stay on for dinner. “For many years we have been coming here for Iftar and dinner,” remarked Dr Ali whose family was sitting in his car.

And Dr Ali is not alone. It has become a ritual for many to visit Hyderabad Colony’s unofficial food court, opposite the Central Jail, during Ramazan. You need to be there before Asr prayers to witness people dropping by to grab delicacies of their choice, on their way to different parts of the city from work.

Q: Tell us a bit about yourself, your date of birth, childhood and siblings?

My name is Shahzad Haroon, I was born in Hyderabad, Sindh on December 14th, 1973. I have a sister who currently lives in Kuwait. I have spent most of my early childhood in Iran, moved back to Karachi, when I was five. I had most of my education done in Karachi. After completing high school, I moved to Chicago for further studies. I completed my under-graduate studies in Electrical Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology and graduate degree from DePaul University.