June 6, 2004

Maneesha Tikekar, an Indian academic, writes about her impressions of Pakistan

One of the attractions of Lahore is the Food Street at Gowalmandi. A street that appears ordinary and drowsy during the daytime undergoes a metamorphosis at dusk. Suddenly the floodlights that come from nowhere and the coloured lights from the residential buildings along the two sides enliven the street. There is constant commotion in the food stalls and carts selling non-vegetarian food mostly and also fruit chat and salads. The road is closed for traffic, as tables are unfolded and laid on the street. Lahoris, I think, remain unmatched when it comes to eating. The road was full of young and old, and families with children enjoying the savouries.

I found the eatables a little too oily. Normally Pakistani food is oily. I was not particularly hungry, so after munching something light I turned towards a milk shop. I had heard the fame of pedewali lassi of Lahore. Pedas are churned with milk and served in a huge steel container. I think only a Punjabi can consume such a huge glass of lassi. But as a challenge I gulped down all the lassi, which is more than a meal. It can put a person to sleep instantly.

Lahoris are never tired of narrating stories about this lassi. Once, a story goes, Lenin visited Lahore with a view to bringing about a communist revolution. Before the plan came up for discussion some Lahoris suggested that they would discuss revolution over a glass of lassi. But after emptying his huge glass of lassi Lenin suggested that revolution could wait, he would first have a nap!

Lahoris are voracious eaters. You visit any garden in Lahore including the Shalimar and you will be accosted by several boys asking your preference in snacks and drinks, and serve you right there.

Talking about food, I must say I found Pakistanis overwhelmingly carnivorous. But Pakistanis told me that it was essentially an urban trait. Till very recently Pakistanis in the countryside were primarily vegetarians as vegetarianism was more affordable. Rural Punjabis mostly consumed dal-roti, dal-chawal and got nicknamed as dal khor. Growing urbanization has made non-vegetarianism popular.

In my five months stay in Pakistan, I was bombarded with chicken. Since vegetarian culture is virtually non-existent, anywhere I was invited for meals, I often found vegetables missing. By chance if they were made, it would be in combination with meat. Once, a host asked my preference in vegetable. I promptly said spinach. When I went for the dinner I found spinach cooked with mutton or rather the other way round. I wondered why the Punjabis living in the most fertile part of Pakistan do not consume vegetables.

For Pakistanis an Indian Hindu has to be invariably vegetarian. Therefore whenever I said I eat chicken, meat or fish, I could literally hear the hostess heaving a sigh of relief. But if I were a vegetarian I would have returned to India in three or four weeks.

I was under the impression that Pakistani food would be hot and spicy. My opinion was conditioned by the experience of the spicy Indian Punjabi food. But I found it to the contrary. Pakistani meat or chicken curries are watery, the idea is to cook them in their own juices without adding too many spices.

Pakistanis rarely use paneer (cottage cheese). In their opinion Indians use paneer largely as a substitute for meat. Nihari and halim are mutton delicacies. Nihari, as the word suggests, is meant for breakfast. It is a watery mutton curry cooked on low fire overnight. Dal and mutton are cooked and stirred together to form a thick consistency in halim. Both nihari and halim were taken to Pakistan by mohajirs. As in northern India the use of arhar dal in Pakistan is limited. Gram and urad (mash) dal are common. Dal is neither cooked nor mashed fully and is seasoned without adding water to it. Initially I found it difficult to gulp down such dry dal but soon got used to it.