Their main occupation was the production of household items such as baskets, sieves and chewing gum made by men and sold by women in the neighbouring towns. Among other sources of income Patkanov lists fortune-telling and cattle larceny. Nomadic Garachi groups used to train animals and make street song-and-dance performances. This practice was described in the famous 1913 story "Garaja giz" by the Azeri writer Suleyman Sani Akhundov. The Garachi claim to adhere to Shia Islam but in reality are non-religious for the most part.