Jamshedpur, Sept. 1: Walking down Sakchi market, one gets to see an array of Ramzan delights.

Sewai, dry fruits and fruits are stacked up at the shops and makeshift kiosks with people from the minority community making a beeline to buy them. But amid all these, dates are selling like hot cakes.

These dates are not the normal ones we get at the markets everyday, they have been imported from Medina in Saudi Arabia. Selling at Rs 2,000 per kg, the price is hardly a deterrent for people as it is of a superior quality than the dates available in India.

“The ones available in the country is good but the Medina khajur tastes better. During Ramzan, people break their daylong fast with dry fruits in the evening, which is known as Iftar. Dates are preferred to other dry fruits as it contain high level of sugar which reaches the liver fast and releases a lot of energy in the body. After a daylong fast people need a lot of energy which the dates provide,” Salim Khan, a dry fruit seller in Sakchi Market.

There are other products of dates like date palm juice that is priced around Rs 140 per kg and olives that costs Rs 150 per 450 gm.

Many a times, the customers come in looking for seedless dates.

“We generally prefer the seedless ones that costs around Rs 300-400. Since we have elderly people at home, we prefer the seedless dates as it is easy to chew,” said Javed Mohammad, a customer at the Mango market.

A shopkeeper at Mango said: “Sale of dry fruits go up by several notches during Ramzan. And since this is the holy month, people do not mind shelling out more money for buying dates to be consumed everyday. “

More than pistachios, raisins, cashew and almonds, it is the dates that sells more. There is a general belief that the prophet has advised to break the fast with dates.”

The shopkeepers said that one-third of their Ramzan sales comprise dates.

“We import dates before the Ramzan month begins as people start buying and hoarding them a lot earlier. Though we sell different variety of dry fruits, people who fast prefer to break it with dates. It is during this time that we do a good business,” said Salauddin Alam, a dry fruit seller at Mango.

This is not all, lachcha siwai, which is priced at Rs 80 per kg, have hit the market and are selling well too.