LAHORE: On the first day of Lahore Literary Festival’s two-day ‘Digital Talks’ series, public policy professional-turned-author, Nilofer Afridi Qazi chatted with Sikander Bizenjo, the co-founder of the Balochistan Youth Action Committee, about her book, Culinary Tales from Balochistan, which explores the Baloch heritage through a food tour of the province.

The author explained that the book was a “culmination of a self-imposed need to food map Pakistan and document culinary heritages that are invisible”. She revealed that it was the first of a series of four books exploring four provinces of the country. Ms Qazi said she travelled to 13 out of the 26 districts of Balochistan for her book.

Regarding how it came about, she told Mr Bizenjo that during her travels across Pakistan the food in public spaces seemed repetitive, irrespective of the province.

“I knew this wasn’t the sum total of our culinary heritages,” she added.

The moderator then asked her about a dish mentioned in the book, ‘Landhi’. Ms Qazi shared that Landhi was an ancient method of curing lamb.

“The type of food tells you why a certain food is made in a particular way. It’s originally cured with salt and hing (asafoetida) used as a preservative. Landhi is now not accessible to that extent as meat is expensive.”

She talked about various combinations that could be cooked with Landhi. Another dish they talk about was ‘Tabaheg’ – cured goat meat with pomegranate powder and salt – from coastal areas of the province.

Ms Qazi discussed her visit to ancient Mehergarh civilisation site in Bolan district.

“The book mentions a couple of recipes that still reflect the civilisational marker where you cooked food before utensils.”

She talked about a nomads’ bread, called ‘Khust Kuni’ – one of the many breads from Balochistan, various fish dishes found in coastal areas, ‘Kruth’ and ‘Shelanch’.

She explained that Kruth “is essentially dehydrated fermented milk. It can be used as sauce, and integrated in a rice dish, poured over various breads and soupy concoctions”.

Ms Qazi also discussed an ancient wild pistachio bead, called ‘Shnay’ that she discovered in abundance in Balochistan.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2022