Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by Robert Scheer

In addition to cooking up meals, Taugir and Mahera Malak sell meats and Middle Eastern groceries at Halal Meats, Deli and Grocery.

Halal Meats, Deli, Grocery for Middle Eastern foods

By Suzanne Cristallo

A customer can do many things at Halal Meats, Deli and Grocery: snack on a package of Punjabi mix while picking up a sack of whole-grain basmati rice; order some New Zealand lamb shanks; pick out a prayer rug, some incense and a copy of the Koran; or order a beef shwarma and perhaps some Jeera sip to go.

The Arabic word Halal means something like kosher; it refers to the fitness of foods according to religious dietary laws. Halal Meats, Deli and Grocery, located on the east side of S. De Anza Boulevard a few blocks north of the railroad crossing, serves a local Muslim community of nearly 15,000 people.

Customers with a penchant for Greek, East Indian and Arabic cooking are treated to a wide variety of spices, rices and sundries from India and Pakistan and a meat case full of fresh cuts of chicken, beef and lamb. A frozen section includes duck, Cornish hens and gourmet salami.

Owners Mahera and Taugir Malak opened the deli section of the store just two years ago, shortly after their marriage. Prior to that, Taugir, 41, ran the grocery and meat market alone, a retail venture he started in 1993 after eight years as an electronics engineer.

"It was all very confusing at first, especially driving on the wrong side [of the street]," says Mahera, 37, of her first experiences in the United States. She speaks with an impeccable English accent gained from her schooling in Northamptonshire, England. Born in the East African nation of Uganda, she traveled to England with her family when she was 10.

In later years, her sister became acquainted with Taugir, a native of Pakistan who first came to the United States 13 years ago to study engineering at the Ohio Institute of Technology. It was through a long-distance telephone call arranged by her sister that Mahera met Taugir. Eventually he visited Mahera in England.

"He was so caring and had such a beautiful personality," Mahera recalls, smiling shyly. They were married soon after.

Mahera runs the deli, preparing for take-out or eating on the premises dishes like chicken tikka--chicken marinated in yogurt and many Indian spices--and shwarma, a Greek dish made either with chicken or with meat sliced from a large section of beef skewered and roasted over a fire. Both chicken and beef are covered in a gyro sauce of yogurt, cucumber, salt and lemon, and are priced at $3.29.

Samosas--deep-fried flour triangles stuffed with potatoes and peas, beef or mutton--cost less than a dollar. For less than $2, there are nan kebobs--marinated beef cooked on a skewer and served in pita bread with salad. Mango ice cream and a variety of cookies are available for dessert.

Halal Meats, Deli and Grocery, 1538 S. DeAnza Blvd., San Jose. Open Tues.-Sat. 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sun.10 a.m.-6 p.m. Closed Mon. 865-1222.

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