There are people, like yours truly, who enjoy wandering around right at the time of iftar. Walking down in the middle of the erstwhile busy roads at iftar time can be delightful. You can see all the policemen huddled up under trees and behind their concrete barricades with disposable plates full of the aforementioned delicacies. Yet there is always one of them standing guard, just in case a truck full of explosives with two euphoric men would happen to go by. There are also small time fruit sellers standing at street corners, and one of them was kind enough to offer me five dates for free at the time of iftar (I accepted two though, ate one and shoved the other one deep into the unforgiving bowels of my bag, probably to be eaten up by a cockroach or something).

Oh, by the way, on my way back home I noticed this new development in the Super Market. Can anyone guess what this little black mirchi means?

Anyway, the blessings of Ramadan are endless. Here are a few of them for your reading pleasure:

1) You get to have more food than you usually have.

2) You get to have more unhealthy food than you usually have.

3) You learn that food is the most important thing on the planet, and that Ramadan is all about the food.

4) You shove non-fasters behind embarrassing enclosures where they can have their happy time and have a bite or two to satiate their hunger (Poor souls! They should demand their rights).

5) Sexually active couples get to spend less time in bed together, and hence contribute in the noble cause of slowing down the population growth of this deprived nation.

6) Medications like Gaviscon and the white Milk of Magnesia have increased sales to help their consumers break down the large bubbles of gas in their intestines into smaller more manageable air packets.

7) And so on and so forth…

But seriously, without taking the ugly head of Ramadan commercialism, the political disturbances, the price hikes, and the religious complications, there are a few things about this month the make it the most important month of the year for a persons physical and mental health. Without Ramadan, the little social ills that plague our society would become something normal, and there would be no question of whether the ills being practiced are right or wrong. This the only time of the year when people abstain from things that are considered wrong, and they develop the patience and strength to do that. Ramadan is not about praying five times a day, or getting up early in the morning to eat paratha, or reciting the Qur’an, or staying hungry throughout the day… it is only about the well being of the spirit, and it is our job to learn how to keep our spirit happy and healthy during this holy month, and for every other month of the year.

It is also mainly about love and compassion, just like the compassion shown to me by that poor fruit seller standing with his cart in the corner of the street at iftar time by offering me dates with a smile on his face.

So Happy (belated) Ramadan everyone! And I hope you spend the rest of what remains of this Islamic month contemplating over the little ills inside you instead of worrying about staying hungry and thirsty.

Since I’m a regular KFC customer and keep ordering those nuggets at my place whenever I feel like getting my arteries blocked with cholesterol, the delivery guy wandering around the counter recognized me and made sure that I got my order in time. And soon my hot star shaped nuggets came sliding down their delivery cabinet and were served in a disposable paper plate along with the unusually salty fries by their side. Since the lower floor was being renovated, I had to go to the first floor to have my meal.

What I have felt during my three year stay in Islamabad (my personal observation) is that people here like going to the KFC outlet more than McDonalds, whereas in Lahore McDonalds is far more popular than KFC as you’ll usually see every McDonalds outlet in Lahore spilling with people who are dying to sink their teeth in a juicy slab of chicken or beef meat (stop drooling, you’ll short circuit your keyboard). Accessibility maybe? With McDonalds far away in F-10 near that park thingy (Fatima Jinnah probably?), people would rather prefer going to the more accessible KFC in the Super, a market place where people are found anyway at any time (except for later in the night after 11, which I think is quite sad). I would personally rate the McDonalds Big Mac more chunkier and juicier than the KFC’s Zinger, the latter having tarnished my image of the much likened burger after I received it in a messy condition at my place. And for some reason I have this feeling that food served at the KFC is more unhealthier than that served at McDonalds.

No comparing McDonalds fries with KFC’s though! Nicely served, crisp and hot and appropriately salted, the McDonalds’ fry is the perfect sidekick to an equally good Big Mac burger, unlike the KFC fry which is a bit more oilier and inappropriately salted. The taste of the fry should be uniform; it should penetrate the flesh of the potato and be homogenous throughout the fry. Because if you chew on a piece of fry with a non-uniform taste, you would see that it is saltier on the outside, but not as salty on the inside, giving you an incomplete taste in the mouth. When you bite a fry, your brain expects the same lovely salty potato taste on the inside too, and when your tongue does not find it, the brain is disappointed. And that’s why McDonald’s fries are better than KFC’s… they just have a nice uniform taste in addition to the crispiness and freshness.

I guess we’ve dissected the fry a bit too much than was necessary.

The first floor of the KFC outlet seemed like a children’s area with balloons everywhere and lovely greeting cards self-made by children pasted to every window of the outlet. I found some of the cards very very touching. Here’s a window covered with cards the children made for their mothers, probably for mothers day:

There’s all sorts of lovely things written on them. The kids have been very creative about expressing their love for their mother in these cards. There was stuff like: There is nothing more comfortable in this world than a mother’s lap.

But I find this quite strange. Not that the kids are expressing their love for their mothers, but that a multi-national fast food outlet that serves fried chicken with potato fries and a soft drink in a disposable glass has children’s emotions splattered all over their walls. Why is a fast food outlet stressing so much on a child’s love for this mother? Is it because they want to improve their sales by attracting more children? Is it because they are using the cover of Mother’s Day to get more customers? Is it because this outlet is in a way educating these children to respect KFC more, and by doing so are preparing them to be KFC addicts in the future? Or does KFC truly and honestly respects a child’s love for his or her mother and is proudly displaying it on their windows with these cards that the children made? Quite strange if you think of it.

It didn’t take me much time to finish what I had in my plates, but what I usually look forward to eating at KFC is the Arabian Rice. I often find myself ordering two plates of Arabian Rice, one as an add-on which costs Rs. 40, and one separate, which costs me Rs. 75 I believe. It’s that combination of the rich chicken flavor with the capsicum, the peppercorn and the green chilli that makes this rice so irresistible. I tried making it at home but wasn’t very successful with it. The only difference was the absence of chicken; I had put chicken stock in it instead. But it did come near to the real thing.

With plenty of time to waste I thought I should send up a few tweets through my cellphone. But then I wondered if there was a WiFi internet connection in the outlet. Quite a ridiculous thought, but when I scanned for wireless internet I found a LOT of them! And everytime I ran the scan I found new ones. The first one in the picture on the left gave me 100% signal strength, so that probably was the KFC’s connection. There was another one for the Chopsticks restaurant right next to the KFC outlet, and this too was an unsecured open connection. The others had either WPA or WEP encryption, so I couldn’t get through them. But I spent my time there comfortably tweeting through the KFC and the Chopsticks WiFi connection. So if anyone of you is on the move and is looking out for a good internet connection to post a blog, check e-mails or work, then just sit around the KFC area and you’ll get a good signal.

And after having my meal, I walked back home, made two glasses of nice salted lassi with a kulcha, and went to bed with the thought that by the time I wake up in the morning, my body would have had absorbed the proteins from the nuggets and patched up my muscle tissue with it, the fries would have provided the much needed carbohydrate, and the rice a truckload of calories to burn on another walk on a Saturday afternoon.

Just saw the making of Roll Paratha @ munchies and I’m totally up for it …. anyone else wana come ;)

Gol Market: From Afar

The multi-coloured umbrellas put in place also gave the market a nice loook:

Gol Market (Closeup)

It looked much more marvelous than these pictures and it was fun having the hot “shawarma” there in the slightly chilly atmosphere. This place is recommended to all to go and have some outdoor food/fun. :-)

Danay Getting Roasted

These days he has two types of danay to offer. One is makai (corn) and the other is channay (some kind of chick-peas). He would roast these in front of you in the big pan containing salt of some kind. When he is done, he will transfer those ‘now roasted’ danay to a small paper bag (looks tiny at times) and hand over to you. You can enjoy these ‘healthy’ treats from as low as Rs 5.00 to as much as you can afford & handle (rather your teeth and tummy can handle), not to mention till the danay-wala’s stocks last.

Different Varieties

My mouth is already watering but I cannot spot the danay wala from my window yet. Maybe its too early for him to arrive. I guess I will have to wait a bit and then with my whole army (gal pals in office) I will charge and conquer (satisfy my relish that is).

Despite its location in the heart of Islamabad’s commercial zone, the Blue Area, Shahida Ahmed’s Tiramisu manages to be cosy and intimate. Shrouded in greenery, the restaurant is immune to the chaos of traffic just a few dozen feet away. The noise fails to penetrate the atmosphere or punctuate the conversations of Tiramisu’s many diners. After gaining a reputation as one of the capital city’s premier caterers, Shahida recently opened the doors to her eatery. The decision to set up shop was a natural offshoot of her love of good food. Of course, Shahida’s delectable dishes have long been enjoyed at the banquet tables of Islamabad’s elite. But now indulgence has become more egalitarian. One no longer has to be a society aunty or a power uncle in order to pamper one’s taste buds. (ROFL ~ author)

These days I’m totally addicted to Tiramisu’s sweet delicacies …. do try ‘em out!

ps: its in same vicinity as Cave restaurant.

pps: Is it just me or the bakery is really built on pavement … illegal construction ~_^

Details on the Bakery & Restaurant courtesy Taaza Nan.

picture courtesy: Me ;)

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This Sunday I made a trip to the “Mandi Maweshia” also known as Bakra Mandi that is being placed in H-11 this year – yes you are right the same ground where last year earthquake affectees were placed.

I don’t know if it’s large place that’s making the number of sacrificial animals lesser than every year or what … but I guess it’s enough to cater the needs of Islooittes.

Just step in the locality and a very familiar “Goaty smell” or as I normally say “the feeling of Bakriat” is what you’ll feel. Don’t worry move on. To be honest, this was the first time after so many years that I actually stepped inside the bakra mandi … face to face with all bakras and dunbas and gayays. So it was interesting too and incidentally I was the only girl in whole Bakra mandi at that time taking portraits of bakras aka goats and stylish “phedoos” aka sheep with utmost tries to stay as far as possible.

Few tips for newbie who may go out to look for animals just for fun with their parents, or maybe friends …. Few terms that are associated with Goats are:

Kheera: It’s the animal that is of 1.5 – 2 years old.

Donda: This animal is of 2+ age and usually have 4 teeth in front.

Choga: This is of around 4 years of age and is considered a bit older with not very good quality meat.

Please correct me if I’m wrong or any additions to this “knowledge-base”

The range of goats (sorry we didn’t asked for Bulls or camel :>) would go from 7K to 20+ for an average to a very good piece. Do take tips on your way to buying a sacrificial animal for differentiating between a healthy and sick animal … and do look thoroughly if the animal is hurt from somewhere.

Have a look at some portraits of Beauties I took …

It’s such a beautiful jauri of Goats … looking with all interest and the white one is even smiling for a picture.

The owner of this goat demanded Rs. 18K and the goat seems to know it so it does not really care and eating is all what it wants.

Just a note: Somehow I don’t like using It for such beautiful animals … so don’t correct my He’s and she’s ;-)

She looks sleepy … oh how much I wanted to go near it and cuddle it … lolz …!

And Masha’ Allah, isn’t he cute … a sheer beauty … all ready for heavens …!

OK – since I saw that banner somewhere for a share in sacrifice of camel – I wanted to have a look at this animal in Goat market … and here they are … I took this from a distance as somehow It appeared they were looking at me and the camel in second picture even took few steps further that’s why second shot I took in a bit hurry …!

Yup I’m in love with sheep since my childhood … so another view of them … oh yeah if you are buying a sheep aka Dunba this year and specially chakki waala dunba … please take are of your animal – since someone was telling me that people used to cut the chakkis from live animals …. How painful … eeeeeh … !

Last but not the least – It’s the animals who are kind of Eid ul Adh’aa’s kings and queens so they need a bit of decor too … so here are the right things to serve the purpose ….!

So this was me Live from bakra mandi – here I sign off – with full hopes that Allah swt accept your sacrifices done by following Sunnat e Ibraheemi … and reward you the best – all His mercies and blessings be upon all Muslims and the world overall. Ameen.

Have a nice Eid … !

Jharoka chef spinning his magic

Does anyone know how this fellow does what he does? I’m talking about the Saltish Mutton Karahi at Jharoka (and Bolan, Shinwari etc.) that just melts in your mouth. It’s the stuff that will have you full and wanting more.

I was surprised not to find this Northern Pakistan specialty anywhere in Lahore or Karachi. Perhaps I didn’t look hard enough? Another selling point for the capital ;)

Image credits: Ifti

Sehri posts from previous Ramzan, Delight 1 and Delight 2 =)

Image Courtesy: DailyLife