KARACHI: Agreed that the most important thing to have for Eidul Azha is the sacrificial animal but that’s not all. Even though the other essentials seem like a small matter to deal with in front of your goat, bull or camel, they are also very much needed.

That’s why you see all those piles of sliced round tree trunks or the meat chopping blocks, barbecue grills, various types of skewers, knives, etc, selling at every other big market including supermarkets and departmental stores. Still, the biggest and best place for these things is the Eid Gah Lohaar (or blacksmith) Market.

There are many shops here selling everything. Even if you are not interested in buying new knives or cleavers, you can bring your old ones to have sharpened here. There are skilled men sitting at sharpening wheels busy making knives edges razor sharp. The friction of metal against metal literally makes sparks fly.

Elahi Bux, who sharpens knives, says that it is a difficult skill requiring precision. “If not careful I can also cut myself,” he smiles. He says that he charges Rs50 per knife.

Coal barbecue grills costing Rs600-1,800 flood city markets on Eidul Azha

Sarfaraz Mohammad sells already sharpened knives at the market. He says that the best knives to have are the stainless steel ones that may cost you anywhere between Rs300 and Rs1,000 depending on size and material.

“The plain steel knives are also good and do the job but they rust easily. But if you keep them in regular use they don’t gather rust,” he says.

He also sells hatchet-like cleavers, both plain steel ones and stainless steel ones. A stainless steel cleaver will cost around Rs2,500 and a plain one about half of that.

In front of him he also has a tall pile of barbecue grills. Nothing too fancy or expensive, they are just coal barbecue grills. The aluminium ones are cheaper than the cast iron ones. A small aluminium grill costs Rs600 and a bigger one, of about three times its size, also costs three times at Rs1,800. A couple of men carry off a large cast iron grill to a car parked nearby. We are told that it costs Rs4,000.

The market also has a variety of skewers to offer. There are thin and round ones and thick flat ones.

Sohail, the man selling them, says that they need to be cleaned thoroughly before and after use and be stored after coating them with any kind of cooking oil.

Though not made of metal, steel or iron, Wali Khan here sells meat chopping blocks. He asks for Rs1,000 for a medium-size block and Rs2,000 for a big one though some smaller ones can be had for around Rs300, too.

On being asked, Wali says that the blocks are made of Kikar (Acacia nilotica) wood. The thorny Kikar grows abundantly without too much of effort so there is no shortage of it. But these particular blocks, according to the shopkeeper came from interior parts of Sindh. Asked how to use the blocks and keep them clean, Wali says that one only needs to keep the wood moist with water.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2022