RAWALPINDI: The sizzle of puris deep-frying can be heard in the narrow streets of downtown Rawalpindi before sunrise. Even on weekends, the area is thrumming with activity, and people are often crowded around restaurants, with the aroma of nihari, sri paya, channay and halwa puri wafting around them.

Sabzi Mandi, Kartarpura, Saddar and Lal Kurti are famous for these traditional breakfast dishes.

Restaurants open soon after morning prayers in summer and the winter, and run out of food within hours, and they are even more popular on Sunday, when people often opt for a traditional brunch.

Halwa puri

Making the puri, which is made of fine wheat flour and ghee, is something of an art. Ghee is added to the dough while it is prepared, before it is rolled out and deep-fried until crispy.

The halwa is made of semolina, sugar and ghee, and is accompanied by channay, a savoury dish made of chickpeas.

Halwa puri can be found in several parts of the garrison city, including at Saddiq Sweet Shop in Kashmiri Bazaar, Jameel Sweets in Chaklala Scheme III and Sufi Restaurant in Kartarpura.

Ahmed Malik, a Westridge resident, said he usually visits Kashmiri Bazaar or Kartarpura for a halwa puri breakfast on Sunday. “Most shops have trained chefs who know how to fry puri. You have to wake up and get to the shop early,” he said.

Channay are also a breakfast dish on their own, and can be found in various varieties including Lahori channay, aloo cholay, channay makhni, chikar cholay, chicken channay, cholay patoray and more.

Chickpeas are a popular food, and a good source of protein and fibre.

According to legend, it was also the food chosen by Emperor Shahjehan to eat every day after he was imprisoned by his son, Aurangzeb. Shahjehan’s cook served him chickpeas with various flavours for many years, and the recipes spread across South Asia, from Kabul to Chittagong.

Although there are different ways to cook chickpeas, most cooks use the traditional, basic method.

The chickpeas are soaked overnight, or for at least 10 to 12 hours, before being cooked with various spices and herbs – such as chillies, powdered coriander, salt and turmeric – until soft. Sodium bicarbonate is also added to the chickpeas when soaked.

“After this, one can add meat or chicken to make the dish different. We added a nihari or paye stew to the channay and most people liked that. For channay makhani, we use butter instead of vegetable oil and serve the dish with naan, salad, curd and pickled mixed vegetables,” said Mohammad Kamran, a shopkeeper in Kartarpura.

Saddar resident Raja Murad said he routinely has channay and naan from breakfast from Saddar Bazaar on the way back from his morning walk. “It is not limited to weekends.”

Sri paya

A few shops in the garrison city, meanwhile, claim to serve the original Delhi recipe for another popular breakfast dish – paya.

Tariq Mehmood opens his Lal Kurti shop for just two hours. “I open the shop for two hours because people arrive before me,” he said.

His father Abdul Manan migrated to Pakistan when the region was still a part of India and began selling bong paya in Lal Kurti. “The recipe was inherited from our elders, and we did not share it with others,” Mr Mehmood said.

Nihari

Nihari is another popular breakfast food, and the city has many options where people can go to enjoy the dish. Majeed Nihari in Sabzi Mandi is one such favourite.

“Early morning is the best time to visit the city because you do not get trapped in the Raja Bazaar traffic. I usually go to the area for nihari early morning on Sunday before my family wakes up for Sunday brunch,” said Bahria Town Phase II resident Mohammad Naeem.

Mohammad Ahsan, who lives in Chaklala Scheme III, said while one can enjoy halwa puri throughout the year, the winter is the best time for sri paya.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2017