100 year old Noor Mohammadi Hotel is officially open Wednesday Following recent renovations and an appeal, the Maharashtra FDA stayed the temporary licence suspension. (Express Photo by Ganesh Shirsekar)Ansari Tufail walked in at 5.45 pm sharp on Wednesday, the first customer through the doors of Noor Mohammadi Hotel in three weeks. The 50-year-old had come for the Nalli Nihari, but with the dish still hours away in its deg, he settled for what was ready. “My younger son and I tried at least four eateries in the neighbourhood, but the food here has a taste that cannot be replicated elsewhere. The coal they use gives the dishes a completely different flavour,” he said, planning to return with his son later that evening for his Nihari.The 102-year-old Mohammad Ali Road restaurant had been shut since mid-July, when Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration officials suspended its FSSAI licence after an inspection. The FDA alleged inspectors found thick layers of oil on the kitchen floors, open windows letting flies and crows into the kebab section, peeling paint and greasy walls, old and unclean utensils, no supplier records or drinking water quality reports, and inadequate pest control. The restaurant scored 45 points. On Tuesday, after a reinspection in which its score rose to 97, Noor Mohammadi received a stay order allowing it to reopen.The eatery began in 1923 as a modest bhatiyar khana, a kitchen-cum-sale counter serving food from large pots, started by Abdul Kareem in a Bhendi Bazaar then frequented by Saadat Hasan Manto, Kaifi Azmi, Dilip Kumar and Mehboob Khan. It grew into a dhaba and then a full-fledged restaurant, famed for the Nalli Nihari that Kareem’s grandson Khalid Hakim credits him with introducing to Mumbai, the Sanju Baba Chicken, a recipe Khalid says came from actor Sanjay Dutt himself, and its shami kebabs. Patrons over the years have included artist M F Husain.“The last 20 days were tough,” said Khalid, now in his 60s. The suspension, he said, felt like having the rug pulled from under his feet. “A few years ago, when I renovated this restaurant, I made people work in shifts, so that I would not have to shut it even for a day. Apart from Covid, this was the first time that the restaurant had remained shut for so long.”There was the restaurant’s reputation. “People said all sorts of things, and I had to hear it all. Thankfully, I wasn’t the only restaurant affected by the crackdown, so the damage wasn’t as bad,” he said. And there was money. “There were EMIs to be paid and a household to run.” Two or three staff members returned to their villages during the closure. Khalid offered the rest half their salary while the restaurant stayed shut; most, he said, have been with him for over five years and chose to stay. He called the others back the day the stay order came.“I thought, let me improve, make all the changes they want me to make and become a better restaurant. FDA Commissioner Tukaram Munde and designated officer Anupama Patil helped me build a better version of Noor Mohammadi,” he said.The kitchen has been entirely rebuilt, with stainless-steel counters, new flooring, appliances and chimneys. The tandoor has been reconstructed, with dedicated, labelled work areas for the tandoor, barbecue and other operations. Posters now inform customers about free drinking water and the cooking oil used. Every staff member wears a hairnet, each section has a designated supervisor, and wet and dry waste are segregated.Story continues below this ad“Doing the paperwork in the way they demanded was tough. We aren’t used to things being this organised,” said Khalid’s son, Wajahat Khalid Hakim, 30. “I have been training the staff, but it will take them about a month to get used to this new way of working.”On Wednesday afternoon, a staff member stirred a large pot in the new kitchen. “Our Nalli Nihari is cooked in a deg for eight to 10 hours. We started preparing it this morning so that it would be ready by evening,” Khalid said, pointing to the round brass vessel. The evening’s menu would be limited, though the signature dishes were expected; only the shami kebabs and haleem would be missing.At the table beside Ansari sat Vishwanath Prasad Mandal, who first came here with his grandfather more than four decades ago and whose family still eats here at least twice a week. During the shutdown he kept checking whether the doors had opened, and noticed preparations underway. “I couldn’t resist sitting down and ordering,” Mandal said between bites of chicken korma and tandoori naan.Heena Khandelwal is a Special Correspondent with The Indian Express, Mumbai. She covers a wide range of subjects from relationship and gender to theatre and food. To get in touch, write to heena.khandelwal@expressindia.com ... Read MoreStay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram