Indian reporter Manoj Joshi was recently in Pakistan. Besides looking into the political health of India’s neighbor to the west, Joshi also checked out Pakistani food (the cuisine, the prices and the shortage), crime and cell phone connections. On the last three counts, he found out that things are not all that different from what he is used to in Delhi.
Pakistani cuisine is not very different for someone coming from Delhi. There are the usual kebabs, rice, parathas and nans and so on. Even the kulfi tastes the same. But as you go towards the north and to the west and south things change. For one thing, these areas are poorer and their food is simple and devoid of the elaborate spices that make up Punjabi food. My favourite “dhaba” in Islamabad is Bolan Saltish in the Blue Area (a commercial district). As the name suggests, it offers Baluchi cuisine, which is essentially meats of various kinds that are slow roasted on an open fire. This is called the Sajji method of cooking. The result is a succulent fare eaten with nan bread. There is no accompaniment of onions, lemons or pickles. Just meat and bread.
What I did miss was a treat at another of my favourites, Jahangir Balti & BBQ, one of the most popular restaurants chain in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
The unrivalled capital for food is, however, Lahore. Unfortunately, I only had a morning there and had to be content with the most basic of foods in Anarkali Bazar— dhai bhalla and some kind of a chola tikki, not very different from what you would get in Chandni Chowk. This bazaar is a bit like our Chandni Chowk, replete withsomewhat tacky stuff that you would not really want to buy. But there is a lot of history behind it, just as in the case of Delhi’s historic bazaar.
More of Joshi’s observations here.
Note from the editor: This is the 1000th post on Accidental Blogger. 956 days have elapsed since the inauguration of the blog; which means that despite the recent slow down, the average rate of posting is still more than one post a day.
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6 responses to “Comparing Notes In Pakistan (and # 1000)”
Congrats on the 1000th post, Ruchira. Here’s to many more to come.(Raising my cup of tea and waving my toast ;)
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As Dean said, we are Scheherzade now. Did she stop after a thousand? Well, as my energy for blogging flags (for now), I doubt that we will be around for another thousand yarns.
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Congratulations to Ruchira and my other wonderful co-bloggers! And despite the familiar speculation, I expect that we will see another thousand.
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Joe:
Will you stick around for that long if I do?
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Absolutely.
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Many Happy Returns of the Day !
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